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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75952 ***
+
+
+[Illustration: JOE LOWERED HIS BICYCLE TOWARDS PAUL.
+
+                                                    “Rival Bicyclists.”]
+
+
+
+
+  THE RIVAL BICYCLISTS;
+
+  OR,
+
+  FUN AND ADVENTURE ON THE WHEEL.
+
+  BY CAPTAIN RALPH BONEHILL,
+
+  _Author of “Gun and Sled,” “The Young Oarsmen of Lakeview,”
+  “Leo the Circus Boy,” etc., etc._
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+  CHICAGO:
+  M. A. DONOHUE & CO.
+
+
+
+
+  COPYRIGHT, 1897.
+  BY
+  W. L. ALLISON CO.
+
+
+
+
+THE RIVAL BICYCLISTS.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+OFF ON THE WHEEL.
+
+
+“What do you say to a ride to Greenpoint and back to-night, Dick?”
+
+“That suits me, Joe.”
+
+“It will be full moonlight, and the ride over the valley road will be
+elegant.”
+
+“True enough. When shall we start?”
+
+“As soon as we have had supper.”
+
+The two speakers were Dick Burns and Joe Johnson.
+
+Dick Burns was the only son of the leading lawyer in Lockport. He was a
+bright fellow of seventeen, and a bicycle rider of no mean ability.
+
+The other boy was Joe Johnson, the hero of the present tale.
+
+At the time of which we write Joe was not quite fifteen years of age.
+He had been born in a little town in Ohio called Rayford’s Run, but
+ere he was seven years old his parents moved to Lockport, where Mr.
+Johnson obtained employment in a large carpet works.
+
+Joe attended the village school and had a host of friends. Every one
+liked the young fellow because he was so straightforward and honest in
+all he did. “You can trust Joe to do it,” was a common expression among
+his schoolmates.
+
+Just three months before the opening of this story Joe had become the
+proud possessor of a bicycle. It had cost a neat little sum of money,
+but he had earned every dollar of it himself by doing odd jobs during
+off hours from school and home duties.
+
+Joe was very proud of his wheel, and he soon learned to ride
+exceedingly well.
+
+“Keep on, Joe, and you’ll become an expert,” said Dick to him one day.
+
+“I wouldn’t like anything better,” returned Joe promptly.
+
+That evening, long before the sun went down, the moon came up full and
+clear.
+
+Dick Burns ate his supper as soon as he could and then hurried around
+to Joe’s house.
+
+“Joe!”
+
+“Coming!” was the reply from the woodshed. “Just wait till I put this
+wood in the box behind the kitchen stove.”
+
+Having finished his evening chores, Joe came out with his wheel.
+
+He wore a neat suit his mother had made for him, and cut a nice figure
+as he rode away by Dick Burns’ side.
+
+As the two wheeled through the village they met pretty Carrie Burns,
+Dick’s sister.
+
+Joe tipped his hat and stopped to chat with her a few minutes.
+
+There was a tall, slim boy who saw this and scowled deeply from behind
+a pile of boxes at the corner grocery. This boy was Lemuel Akers, and
+he was Joe’s one enemy.
+
+On one occasion Lemuel had given Joe the lie direct in school, and,
+much to his astonishment, had been knocked down for doing it.
+
+There had been a short fight, and Joe had shown that he was clearly the
+stronger boy of the two, even though he was much smaller than Lemuel.
+
+The tall boy hated Joe greatly, and was watching his chances to “get
+square,” as he termed it.
+
+He did not attack Joe openly, but, instead, waited to do some mean
+trick behind Joe’s back.
+
+“Going off for a ride, eh?” muttered Lemuel Akers, as Joe and Dick
+proceeded on their way. “I would like to make trouble for him while he
+is gone! I wonder if I can’t think of something.”
+
+All unconscious of what was going on in Lemuel’s mind, Joe pushed on
+his pedals and made a spurt.
+
+“Catch me, Dick!” he called, and a lively race took place, and was kept
+up until the outskirts of the place for which they were bound were
+reached.
+
+Greenpoint was a fine town on the edge of a great lake, and here the
+two boys took a half-hour’s rest, while Dick, who always had pocket
+money, treated to soda water.
+
+The rest over, Dick proposed that they return home by a different route.
+
+“Let us go up Bacon Hill,” he said. “We have got lots of time, and
+coasting down the other side will be simply immense.”
+
+“It’s pretty risky coasting on that hill in the moonlight,” replied Joe.
+
+“Oh, it’s all right. I was over the road only two days ago and it is in
+prime condition.”
+
+“All right, come on. I can’t bear to rest any longer.”
+
+Off they went again, but this time not so fast, as there was a long and
+rather steep hill to climb.
+
+The top reached, they stopped just a minute to look over the
+surrounding landscape, bathed in the white light of the full moon, and
+then started on the down grade leading to the Pentaco River, and back
+to Lockport.
+
+A single push on the pedals was sufficient. The grade was not great,
+but it was enough, and with their feet up on the coasters they went
+flying down the long stretch, gaining additional speed as they advanced.
+
+“Fine, eh?” cried Dick Burns.
+
+“Immense!” yelled Joe, who was in the lead. “Come on!”
+
+“I’m coming,” was his reply.
+
+But try his best, Dick could not quite reach Joe.
+
+Over a mile was passed without the least accident, and then, far
+beyond, the two saw the river winding along and sparkling in the pale
+light.
+
+On the other side of the stream there was another hill, so the “fly”
+would have to end at the bridge.
+
+“Now for a grand finish!” called out Joe. “Catch me, if you can, Dick!”
+
+“I’m coming!” sang out his companion again.
+
+Nearer and nearer they came to the river, Joe still well in advance.
+
+Suddenly both boys saw something which made their hearts fairly leap
+into their throats.
+
+The bridge was down!
+
+That very afternoon the workmen had torn down the wooden structure, to
+replace it soon with one of iron.
+
+The boys had ridden along so fast that neither had noticed the several
+notices posted up that the river could not be crossed on this road.
+
+“The bridge is gone!” groaned Dick Burns.
+
+Joe said nothing.
+
+It was impossible for the bicyclists to stop on that downward grade.
+
+Almost before they could think, they were within twenty feet of the
+river.
+
+It was a rock-bound mountain torrent, not deep, but highly dangerous.
+
+A fall from the road into it, at the speed at which they were going,
+would certainly mean death.
+
+Could the two boys escape?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+OUT OF A PERILOUS SITUATION.
+
+
+Joe and Dick had to think and act quickly, for they were going at such
+speed that another second must decide their fate.
+
+“To the right!” yelled Joe.
+
+There was no time to say more.
+
+He switched off, and at the same time threw his whole weight over.
+
+The wheels of his bicycle slid along the road several yards, and it was
+only Joe’s skill that prevented him from taking the nastiest kind of a
+header.
+
+Then he ran upon some planking from the torn-away bridge.
+
+Dick tried to follow his lead, but was not so fortunate. He flew off
+his machine, and when Joe stopped, Dick went sailing directly over his
+head.
+
+Both finally found themselves mixed up in a mass of planks and beams.
+
+At first Joe could scarcely collect his thoughts. His clothing was
+much torn, and his left arm had been badly wrenched.
+
+Dick Burns was unconscious.
+
+Joe thought for the instant his friend was killed, and in his horror
+forgot all about his own bruises.
+
+He picked Dick up and laid him down on the near-by grass. Then Dick
+stirred slightly, and Joe knew he was still alive.
+
+He ran down to a pool and got some water in his cap, with which he
+bathed Dick’s face. He also rubbed his chum’s wrists.
+
+Finally he had the satisfaction of seeing Dick open his eyes with a
+deep sigh.
+
+“Dick, are you hurt?” he asked.
+
+“I don’t know. I hit my chest.”
+
+“Maybe you broke a rib or two?”
+
+“I don’t know.”
+
+It was fully fifteen minutes before Dick felt like sitting up.
+
+By that time he felt sure that no bones had been broken. But he was so
+sore he could not think of riding home.
+
+“We will have to go back to Greenpoint, and I would give out inside of
+a mile,” he said.
+
+“If I could get a wagon we might drive home,” said Joe.
+
+They talked the matter over, and finally our hero started off to hunt
+up a wagon.
+
+He knew a number of farmers in the district, and felt pretty certain he
+could get a turnout from one or the other of them, especially when he
+made known that he wanted to take home Lawyer Burns’ son, who had been
+hurt.
+
+Joe’s wheel, strange to say, had sustained no damage outside of a few
+bent spokes, and now he went off on the machine, leaving Dick sitting
+on the old bridge lumber.
+
+“Come back as soon as you can, Joe.”
+
+“Of course, Dick.”
+
+The river was soon left out of sight, and Joe turned into a by-road,
+lined on either side with heavy trees.
+
+Beneath, the trees formed an archway, which in the heat of the day gave
+a grateful shade to travelers.
+
+But now, in spite of the moonlight, it was very dark here, and Joe had
+to slacken his speed for fear of going into a hole or striking a stone.
+
+“I don’t want another trip-up,” he thought, as he pedaled along. “One
+such in a month is enough.”
+
+Our hero was very thankful that he had escaped a plunge into the river.
+
+Halfway to the house he was bound for the lad heard the sounds of
+voices coming from the roadside.
+
+“I’m dead hungry, Gimpy,” he heard in the rough voice of a tramp. “Wot
+yer got fer supper?”
+
+“Dare ain’t nuthin’ but a couple o’ handouts, Jimmie,” was the reply
+from a second tramp.
+
+“Dat won’t do fer me. Say! Dare’s a big henhouse up at dat farm I just
+passed.”
+
+“I know it.”
+
+“Suppose we rake in a chicken or two? Da will go fine after wot we’ve
+had.”
+
+“Dat’s so.”
+
+“Dare ain’t nobuddy around der place but an old man an’ an old woman,
+and da’ll be going ter bed soon.”
+
+“Well, I’m wid yer.”
+
+Joe listened to this conversation with keen interest. He had stopped
+behind a big tree and had heard every word spoken.
+
+He knew the farmhouse to which the two tramps referred. It was the very
+place for which he was bound.
+
+The farmer’s name was Josiah Arkley, and he lived on the place with
+Susan, his sister.
+
+They kept no hired help, and the farm was a good quarter mile from any
+other.
+
+It would be an easy matter for the tramps to rob Josiah Arkley’s
+henhouse, for the old man and his sister always retired early.
+
+Besides, the old pair were both slightly deaf, and it was not likely
+that they would hear the disturbance among the fowls.
+
+As silently as a cat Joe left the vicinity. Once out of earshot of the
+tramps, he sped along to the Arkley farmhouse as fast as his wheel
+would carry him.
+
+As he had surmised, the place was dark, for the old couple had long
+before gone to bed.
+
+It took a deal of hammering on the front door to arouse Josiah Arkley.
+
+“Who’s there?” he demanded, as he popped his head out of an upper
+window.
+
+“Joe Johnson, Mr. Arkley.”
+
+“And what brings you here, Joe?” asked the old farmer in surprise.
+
+“Two things, sir. Come down as soon as you can, please.”
+
+“I will.”
+
+The window was shut down and all became quiet again.
+
+Soon a light appeared below, the door was thrown open and Joe entered
+the farmhouse, taking his wheel with him. He found both of the old
+folks had dressed and come down.
+
+“Now, what’s up, Joe?” asked the old man in a trembling voice.
+
+“Well, in the first place, two tramps are on their way here to rob your
+hen roost.”
+
+“Land sakes alive!” burst out Susan. “You don’t mean it, Joe?”
+
+“Wait till I get my gun,” went on Josiah.
+
+He ran into the kitchen and returned with an old-fashioned blunderbuss
+which was loaded and ready for use.
+
+In a few words Joe told of the conversation he had overheard, to which
+the farmer and his sister listened with interest.
+
+“I’ll fix ’em,” muttered Josiah.
+
+He turned out the light and led the way to the shed built on the side
+of the kitchen.
+
+From here a good view of the chicken-house, not a hundred feet away,
+could be obtained.
+
+Joe looked out of the window over the old man’s shoulder.
+
+“Here they come!” he whispered, for the two tramps had just leaped a
+side fence.
+
+The intruders separated, and while one remained on guard, the other
+made a tour around the house.
+
+Apparently satisfied that they were not observed, the two tramps
+sneaked back toward the chicken-house.
+
+In this building old Josiah Arkley kept about two dozen prize fowls.
+
+He did not believe in owning many, but what he did have were of the
+best, many of them being worth three and four dollars apiece for
+breeding purposes.
+
+The sight of the tramps excited the old man very much, and it was with
+difficulty that Joe and old Susan kept him from shooting down the
+would-be offenders without warning.
+
+“Why don’t you capture them and take them to jail?” suggested Joe.
+
+“I can’t capture two men alone.”
+
+“I’ll help you,” said Joe.
+
+“So will I,” added Susan Arkley.
+
+The two latter at once armed themselves.
+
+Joe procured Josiah Arkley’s heaviest cane, which was little short of
+being a club.
+
+Old Susan brought forth a broom--an old one which was worn down to a
+hard stub at the end.
+
+In the meanwhile one of the tramps had pried the padlock from the
+chicken-house door.
+
+Now one of them stood by the open door while the other went inside.
+
+“Come on!” whispered Josiah Arkley, and he led the way out of the house.
+
+Silently the three sneaked along by the well and dairy until within six
+yards of the fowl-house.
+
+“You villains, throw up your hands or I will shoot!” suddenly cried
+Josiah Arkley.
+
+The tramps were dumfounded for the minute. Then the one at the door
+began to yell.
+
+“Dere’s onto us, Gimpy!”
+
+“Stand still, do you hear?” cried old Josiah.
+
+“Not much!” howled the fellow called Jimmie. “I ain’t doin’ time dis
+summer!” and he started to run.
+
+Bang! went the blunderbuss, and the tramp received a dose of shot in
+his leg and fell groaning beside the dairy.
+
+Then out came the second tramp. Joe rushed at him and struck him with
+the club.
+
+The tramp turned on our hero, and a second later both were rolling over
+and over on the ground.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+JOE IS ACCUSED OF A CRIME.
+
+
+The tramp did not mean that he should be captured. The summer was at
+its height, and during this portion of the year tramps hate to be sent
+to jail.
+
+In the winter they do not mind it so much, for then they are assured of
+a warm place to stay and enough to eat.
+
+But Joe had made up his mind to capture the tramp.
+
+He held on with a great grip, and in vain the vagabond tried to shake
+him off.
+
+“Let me git after him with the broom!” shrieked Susan Arkley, dancing
+about.
+
+While Joe was struggling old Josiah Arkley went after the tramp who had
+been shot.
+
+This fellow was full of rage, and now he threatened to injure the
+farmer’s head with a rock.
+
+It promised to be a lively time all around.
+
+But Joe soon settled matters, so far as it concerned the man with whom
+he was wrestling.
+
+He broke loose, and then the fellow received a blow in the face that
+made him shriek with pain.
+
+In the meantime Josiah Arkley had struck the other tramp with the end
+of the blunderbuss. Susan had followed with half a dozen whacks from
+the broom, and now the chap was pleading for mercy.
+
+“Give a feller a show ter live!” he groaned. “Oh! me head! Don’t hit me
+agin!”
+
+“Now, Susan, stand guard over him till I git a rope,” went on old
+Josiah.
+
+He disappeared into the barn and soon came out with ropes and old bits
+of harness. With these the tramp was secured, hands and feet.
+
+“Good for you, Joe,” exclaimed the old farmer, when he saw what our
+hero had accomplished.
+
+“Bind him, too, Mr. Arkley.”
+
+“Sure, Joe, sure,” was the reply, and soon the second tramp was a
+prisoner.
+
+Both were dragged into the barn and there bound fast to rings in
+separate stalls.
+
+The old farmer would take no chances of their escaping while he went to
+notify the authorities.
+
+The tramps in custody, Joe told the farmer about the accident at the
+bridge.
+
+Josiah Arkley at once agreed to let Joe have his large farm wagon and a
+team.
+
+This would give the two boys plenty of room for themselves and their
+bicycles.
+
+“You can put the team up in Mr. Burns’ barn, and I’ll be over for it
+to-morrow,” said the farmer.
+
+This was agreed to, and Joe drove off, taking Josiah Arkley with him
+until the turn in the road beyond the heavy trees was reached.
+
+Then the farmer left him to walk to the next village for a constable,
+while Joe turned the team toward the river.
+
+Our hero found Dick where he had left him.
+
+“You have been gone a long time, Joe,” cried Dick. “I thought you were
+never coming back.”
+
+“That’s so; I had something happen that I didn’t look for,” returned
+Joe.
+
+And as he helped Dick into the wagon on the top of a number of
+blankets, he told his friend of what had occurred. Dick was much
+astonished.
+
+“It’s a good job done to capture those tramps,” he remarked. “Father
+says the law against them isn’t half strong enough.”
+
+Joe piled the two bicycles on the back of the wagon. Dick’s was sadly
+bent and would have to be sent away for repairs.
+
+“Never mind,” said the lawyer’s son. “I am very thankful we both
+escaped with our lives.”
+
+“And so am I,” said Joe with a shudder, as he started the team off.
+
+On they jogged slowly until the few lights of the town appeared in
+sight. By this time Dick was much fatigued, and Joe had to drive slower
+than ever.
+
+When they turned into the Burns garden the house door opened and the
+lawyer came out.
+
+“Hullo! I thought it was Dick returning,” he called out.
+
+“It is I, father,” replied the son. “We’ve been in a smash-up.”
+
+At once the lawyer came down, and soon his wife and Carrie Burns
+followed.
+
+Dick was helped out of the wagon and almost carried into the house,
+where he was made comfortable on his bed.
+
+Dick told the lawyer about the team, and Mr. Burns willingly consented
+to keep it over night.
+
+“And I’ll pay Mr. Arkley, too,” he said.
+
+Joe put the team up and was on the point of leaving, when a man rushed
+up to the house.
+
+It was Simon Pepper, the village watchmaker. He kept a small store on
+the main street, filled with watches, clocks, and cheap jewelry.
+
+“Ha! I have you!” he cried, running up to Joe and catching our hero by
+the arm.
+
+“What’s the matter, Mr. Pepper?” asked Joe in surprise.
+
+“You know well enough what’s the matter,” fumed the watchmaker. He was
+a little man and of a very excitable nature.
+
+“I must say I haven’t the slightest idea,” returned Joe.
+
+“Indeed!” was the sneering return. “Maybe you haven’t been around my
+shop.”
+
+“I was around there yesterday to get our clock.”
+
+“Exactly; and you asked me about my highest-priced jewelry, too.”
+
+“I asked about the jewelry. I want to save up and get my mother a pin
+for her birthday.”
+
+“Just so, just so. And you took that key, you rascal!”
+
+“What key?”
+
+“You know well enough. Oh, you are a smart boy, Joe Johnson, but you
+can’t play any such trick on me.”
+
+And in his rage Simon Pepper shook his fist in Joe’s face.
+
+“Mr. Pepper, won’t you explain yourself?” put in Mr. Burns curiously.
+
+“Of course, of course, Mr. Burns, in a minute! But I can’t stand it to
+have this young rascal act so cool about it! Just as if he didn’t know
+a word!”
+
+“And I don’t know a word,” added Joe promptly.
+
+“Well, maybe you’ll know more when you are behind the bars! Do you
+hear? Behind the bars! I came to see Mr. Burns about the case.”
+
+“A case against Joe?” asked the lawyer.
+
+“Precisely, Mr. Burns.”
+
+“What has he done?”
+
+“Done enough to send him to State’s prison for ten years.”
+
+“Impossible!”
+
+“It is false!” burst from Joe’s lips. The lad could scarcely believe
+his ears.
+
+“It ain’t false; it’s true. Yesterday he was in my store and stole the
+key to the back door. To-night he has been in there and robbed me of
+nigh on to a hundred dollars’ worth of jewelry. I’m going to have him
+arrested, and then I’m going to get a warrant and search his home.”
+
+“I never stole a thing in my life!” ejaculated Joe.
+
+“I can prove it, boy, I can prove it! Do you know why? Because I found
+your knife back of the very showcase that was robbed. You used that
+knife to throw the catch back on the lock. Don’t you dare to deny it,
+or attempt to run away!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+JOE DECLARES HIS INNOCENCE.
+
+
+For a moment Joe could not speak. Here he was accused of robbing Simon
+Pepper’s jewelry shop that very night, when he had not been near the
+place.
+
+He felt in his pocket. True enough, his pocket-knife was gone.
+
+“Oh, I’ve got the knife safe enough,” sneered Simon Pepper. “You
+needn’t look for it.”
+
+“Perhaps Joe dropped the knife yesterday, when he came for the clock,”
+suggested the lawyer.
+
+“No, he didn’t. I swept up, and I would have found it before.”
+
+“Joe has been out bicycling with my son.”
+
+“I can’t help that! He robbed the place, I feel sure of it,” snapped
+Simon Pepper. “I’m going to have him locked up, and then have his house
+searched.”
+
+“You can search the house, and welcome,” said Joe promptly. “You will
+find nothing there belonging to you.”
+
+“Maybe I will--unless you have taken the stuff off to some other
+place,” retorted the unreasonable jeweler.
+
+In vain Mr. Burns protested that Joe might be innocent. The hot-headed
+jeweler would not listen, and the upshot of the matter was that Joe was
+marched to the justice’s house.
+
+Here, as late as it was, a hearing was had.
+
+The watchmaker told his story, and told of the pocket-knife.
+
+Then he procured a search warrant, that he might search Mr. Johnson’s
+home.
+
+Joe accompanied the crowd to the house. His mother sat up waiting for
+him. She was very much disturbed, as Joe was in the habit of returning
+home much earlier than was now the time.
+
+“Oh, what is the matter!” she cried.
+
+“It’s all right, mother,” cried Joe. “Mr. Pepper has got it into his
+head that I robbed his shop, but I didn’t, and he can’t prove it.”
+
+“Oh, Joe!”
+
+Mr. Johnson was called, and soon he learned the particulars of the case
+on hand.
+
+He believed Joe’s story that he was innocent.
+
+Simon Pepper, with a constable, who had come along, now searched the
+house from cellar to garret. Of course, not a thing belonging to the
+watchmaker was found.
+
+“Didn’t I tell you so!” cried Joe, and not without a slight ring of
+triumph in his tones.
+
+After searching the house the party went to the barn, and to the
+woodshed, but all to no purpose.
+
+“You can easily see that you have made a mistake, Mr. Pepper,” said
+Joe’s father.
+
+“I don’t see. Maybe he has already sold the stuff he took,” growled the
+watchmaker.
+
+He would not listen to Joe’s story of the accident on the road, and of
+what had happened at old Josiah Arkley’s house.
+
+He wanted Joe arrested, and the justice had to take his complaint.
+
+But the official knew Mr. Burns very well, and at once accepted bail
+from the lawyer for the boy.
+
+“And I’ll defend you when the trial comes off,” he said to Joe. “We all
+believe you innocent.”
+
+Joe went home with his father rather downcast. It was one thing to be
+innocent, but it was quite another to prove it. He knew many in the
+village would look at him as a thief.
+
+A shadow on one’s character is very depressing.
+
+On the following day Joe called on Dick Burns, and found him much
+improved, but still unable to go out. It would be some time before
+Dick would be able to ride his wheel again.
+
+“Pepper must be crazy!” declared Dick. “Never mind, I’ll tell what I
+know of the matter. You were with me nearly all the evening.”
+
+“One thing is certain,” said Joe. “His store was robbed. I wonder who
+did it?”
+
+“Maybe tramps,” suggested Dick, and there the question dropped.
+
+Joe was glad of one thing, and that was that Dick’s sister also looked
+on him as being innocent.
+
+Several days went by, and Joe’s trial was set down for the last
+Wednesday in the month.
+
+In the meanwhile the boys at Elmwood, four miles from Lockport, got up
+an amateur bicycle tournament.
+
+Joe entered the two-mile event, along with half a dozen boys from
+Elmwood, and three lads from Lockport.
+
+Among those from the latter place was Lemuel Akers. The big boy was
+conceited enough to think he would win the race, although there were a
+score of boys in the district who could ride better than he.
+
+Joe was not so certain of himself, but he told Dick he would do his
+best.
+
+“And that’s all a chap can do, you know,” he said.
+
+“Do your best, Joe, and you will win,” said his chum confidently.
+
+The day for the races dawned bright and clear, and among those who
+attended were Joe’s parents and the entire Burns family.
+
+Joe cut a very trim figure as he rode on to the track in the parade,
+which headed off the entertainment.
+
+Only one boy looked at our hero with disdain, and that was Lemuel.
+
+As he passed Joe he muttered something about “jailbird.”
+
+“What’s that?” demanded Joe sharply.
+
+“You heard me well enough,” sneered the big boy.
+
+Scarcely had he spoken when Joe leaned from his seat and struck Akers
+over the mouth with the flat of his hand.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+JOE’S FIRST RACE.
+
+
+Several who were riding close by saw Joe strike Akers.
+
+As for Lemuel himself, he was so astonished that for the moment he
+could scarcely speak.
+
+“What do you mean by that?” he managed to gasp at last.
+
+He had half-leaped, half-tumbled from his machine, and now he strode up
+to Joe, his face dark with passion.
+
+“I mean a good deal,” retorted Joe, and he leaped down in front of
+Akers.
+
+“What’s the row, Joe?”
+
+“What did you strike Akers for?”
+
+“It’s against the rules to scrap on the grounds.”
+
+“He called me a jailbird, boys, and I won’t take that from any one,
+rules or no rules.”
+
+“For shame, Akers!”
+
+“Joe hasn’t been proved guilty yet.”
+
+“And he isn’t guilty, to my way of thinking.”
+
+Nearly all of the boys sided with Joe.
+
+“Humph, evidently you are all with him, and I’ve got no rights here,”
+growled Lemuel Akers.
+
+“You have certainly no right to call him a jailbird,” returned the
+manager of the races warmly. “I don’t blame Joe for slapping you in the
+mouth.”
+
+“I’ll fix him for it!” grumbled Lemuel, but instead of advancing upon
+Joe, who stood on guard and ready to administer a good thrashing to the
+bully, he backed away, mounted his wheel, and rode off to another part
+of the grounds.
+
+After that Akers was knowing enough to keep out of Joe’s way until the
+two-mile race came off.
+
+There was that in Joe’s eye that warned him to beware, and, as we have
+said before, he was a coward at heart.
+
+The two-mile race was the last of all.
+
+A big crowd had assembled, for several valuable prizes were to be given
+to the winners of the first and second place.
+
+The boys lined up in good form.
+
+“All ready?”
+
+There was no answer.
+
+Bang!
+
+Off went the pistol, and off went the racers. It was a splendid start.
+
+The track was a quarter of a mile around, so the boys had to cover
+eight laps in order to make the two miles.
+
+At the first lap one of the Elmwood boys was in the lead, with Lemuel
+Akers second, and another boy third.
+
+The second lap was the same, excepting that Lemuel was crowding the
+leader pretty closely.
+
+“Akers is going to win that race!”
+
+“I’ll bet on Donnelly!”
+
+On the third lap Joe dropped to fourth place.
+
+“Wake up, Joe!” shouted Dick Burns. “Wake up!”
+
+Joe paid no attention to this remark, but kept his eyes straight ahead.
+
+On the next lap there was a bunch up among the three last riders, and
+two went down, with the third over them.
+
+Friends helped the unfortunates off the track, just in time to avoid a
+collision with the leaders on the next lap.
+
+Around and around went the remaining riders until the last lap was on.
+
+Lemuel Akers was leading, Donnelly second, and Joe third.
+
+“Go it, Akers!”
+
+“Catch him, Donnelly!”
+
+“Go, Joe, go!”
+
+The last cry was from Dick Burns’ sister, and it seemed to put new life
+into our hero.
+
+Away he went like a flash. It was an extraordinary spurt, and told only
+too well what was in Joe’s make-up as a bicyclist.
+
+They were on the home stretch.
+
+Donnelly was also spurting.
+
+In vain Lemuel Akers tried to maintain his lead.
+
+Donnelly crept up inch by inch and finally passed him.
+
+“It’s Donnelly’s race!”
+
+“I told you he could beat Akers.”
+
+But now the crowd suddenly held its breath.
+
+Like a meteor Joe was coming up.
+
+Nothing could stop him.
+
+With flashing wheels he rushed by Akers.
+
+Donnelly was but a yard ahead.
+
+And the tape but ten yards distant.
+
+Donnelly did his best, but in vain.
+
+“Joe Johnson has won!”
+
+It was true, for our hero had come over the tape just one foot ahead of
+Donnelly.
+
+The crowd went wild and shouted itself hoarse. The Lockport boys rushed
+to Joe, hauled him from his wheel, and marched around the track with
+their hero on their shoulders.
+
+It was a great day for Joe, and one that he never forgot.
+
+Dick Burns was almost as much pleased as our hero.
+
+“I knew you could do it, Joe,” he said. “One of these days you will be
+a leading racer, mark my words.”
+
+And Dick’s sister also praised Joe.
+
+Lemuel Akers was much taken down by Joe’s victory. As soon as he could
+he left the race track grounds and started off for a little village
+called Bailey’s, two miles to the west.
+
+Here Akers spent a good two hours at the tavern.
+
+He was not above drinking, and now he took just enough to make him
+thoroughly ugly.
+
+“I’ll fix him yet,” muttered Lemuel to himself. “He shan’t ride it over
+me.”
+
+Lemuel felt doubly chagrined because Dick Burns’ sister no longer
+noticed him.
+
+It was not until evening that Akers started to return to Lockport.
+
+In the meanwhile Joe had returned home and had supper.
+
+Our hero felt rather wakeful after his hard ride, and thought a quiet
+spin on his wheel just before going to bed would do him good.
+
+So he went off alone, a crowd of boys cheering him as he passed out of
+sight.
+
+He was a hero, and for the time being, at least, the fact that he was
+under suspicion was forgotten.
+
+Joe pedaled along for about a mile very slowly. Then he came to a part
+of the road which was fringed with blackberry bushes. The ripe fruit
+looked so tempting that he dismounted, and, setting his machine against
+a tree, began to gather some to eat. While he was doing this Lemuel
+Akers came along.
+
+“Hullo! what are you doing there?” he demanded.
+
+“None of your business,” replied Joe sharply. He had not forgotten
+Lemuel’s insult at the race track.
+
+“Don’t you know this is my uncle’s land?” went on the big boy.
+
+“It’s not fenced in, and any one has a right to pick these berries
+along the road,” responded our hero.
+
+“You have no right, and I want you to skip!” roared Akers savagely.
+
+And then, as he rode close to Joe, he struck our hero with a stout
+stick he carried.
+
+“That’s for hitting me at the race track,” he cried, and wheeled off at
+top speed.
+
+Joe was somewhat stunned by the blow from the stick. He staggered into
+the bushes, and in consequence one hand was scratched in several places.
+
+But he quickly recovered, and, mounting his wheel, rode after Akers.
+
+Finding himself pursued, the bully pedaled along at top speed down a
+side road. At first it looked as if he would get away from Joe, but
+just as the foot of a long hill was reached, our hero caught up beside
+him.
+
+“Stop, Akers, or I’ll knock you off of your machine!” cried Joe.
+
+“Don’t you dare to touch me!” screamed Akers.
+
+He tried to go on, and, seeing this, Joe gave him a shove, which hurled
+the rascal to the ground.
+
+Lemuel went down on his bicycle, half a dozen spokes of which were
+badly bent in the fall. When he arose he found Joe also on the ground,
+but on his feet.
+
+“Now, see what you have done, you jailbird,” he cried.
+
+“Take back those words, Lemuel Akers!” exclaimed Joe. “I warned you
+before, and I won’t warn you again.”
+
+“I won’t take ’em back,” howled the big boy. “You are a jailbird and a
+thief, and every one----”
+
+Lemuel went no further.
+
+Joe’s right fist shot out like lightning. The big boy was caught fairly
+on the chin, and over he went flat on his back in the dirt of the road.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+PAUL JOHNSON’S PERIL.
+
+
+Lemuel Akers was so dazed by the blow he had received that it was fully
+a minute before he recovered sufficiently to stand on his feet.
+
+“What did you hit me with that club for?” he bellowed.
+
+“I hit with my fist, and I’ll do it again unless you take back what you
+said,” replied Joe. “I’ll fight you with one hand,” he added.
+
+Lemuel Akers was fearfully frightened. He had never imagined that our
+hero was so strong. He glared at Joe, but did not dare attack him just
+then.
+
+“I’ll fix you one of these days,” he muttered, and picked up his wheel.
+
+“I want you to take back what you said,” went on Joe calmly, and he
+came a step closer to Lemuel.
+
+The big boy was now thoroughly scared. He would have run away, but he
+understood that such an attempt would be fruitless.
+
+“I--I--maybe I made a mistake,” he whined.
+
+“You are a low, despicable fellow, Lemuel Akers! Now go; and beware how
+you speak of me in the future.”
+
+So speaking, Joe turned on his heel, mounted his wheel, and rode off.
+He was thoroughly disgusted with Lemuel.
+
+The meeting had disturbed our hero not a little, and it took an hour’s
+riding to make him easy in mind once more.
+
+Lemuel’s words rang most unpleasantly in his ears. Would they convict
+him when the trial came off? Would they really send him to jail? The
+thought was fearful. His fair name would be blasted forever.
+
+“I must do something toward clearing myself,” he thought. “If only I
+could find the real thief!”
+
+On the following day a heavy storm came up. It rained for forty-eight
+hours, and, in consequence, the river which flowed to the west of
+Lockport was considerably swollen.
+
+Joe’s younger brother, Paul, owned a rowboat, which was tied up on this
+stream. The rowboat broke away, and on the day it cleared, Paul went
+off in search of his property.
+
+Joe had some work to do about the house after school hours, but about
+four o’clock in the afternoon he finished up, and then rode off on his
+wheel to see what had become of Paul, and if his brother’s boat had
+been found.
+
+The roads were heavy after the rain, and wheeling was not very good.
+Joe went along slowly, and in several places he had to dismount and
+walk.
+
+Just as he neared the stream he met three villainous-looking tramps.
+They had been camping out in an old shanty by the roadside. The tramps
+saw Joe some distance off, and at once began to whisper together.
+
+“Hi, there, young feller!” called one of the tramps.
+
+“What is it?” asked Joe.
+
+“Give us a bit of terbacker, will yer?”
+
+“I don’t use it.”
+
+“Then give us the price o’ a paper, that’s a good son.”
+
+“I have nothing for you.”
+
+“Don’t git imperdent, son.”
+
+And then the three tramps placed themselves directly in Joe’s path.
+
+It was a lonely part of the road, and our hero realized that the tramps
+intended to stop him and go through his pockets. It was not the first
+time such a hold-up had occurred in the vicinity.
+
+“Clear the way!” cried Joe sharply.
+
+“Just you step down and pony up,” returned the leader of the trio.
+
+“I won’t. Look out!”
+
+As Joe spoke he turned back as if to retreat. At once the three tramps
+made after him.
+
+Our hero waited until they were somewhat scattered, and then he turned
+again.
+
+Like a flash he passed the two leading road ruffians.
+
+The third tramp, a slight-built fellow, was directly in his way.
+
+Whack! Joe’s wheel hit him directly in the side, and with a howl he
+went down in the mud.
+
+Joe was almost unseated, but he managed to right his machine, and on he
+went.
+
+When he had covered a good fifty yards he looked back. All three of the
+tramps were shaking their fists after him.
+
+“That’s the time I got out of a tight pocket,” said Joe to himself.
+
+The tramps did not remain long in the vicinity. They were afraid Joe
+would return with help and place them under arrest.
+
+Ten minutes later brought our hero to the river. He was surprised to
+see how greatly the recent rains had swollen it. From a small creek it
+had grown into a swiftly-flowing river.
+
+He looked up and down for Paul, but could see nothing of his brother.
+
+“I’ll go below to Factory Falls,” he thought. “Maybe the boat went over
+the falls and was smashed to pieces.”
+
+There was a fair road along the river bank, and along this our hero
+wheeled his way.
+
+Presently he came to an iron bridge which spanned the river. Not fifty
+feet below were the Factory Falls, where the waters dropped a distance
+of twenty feet and more.
+
+Joe wheeled on the bridge, and as he did so he noticed a rowboat away
+up the stream, with a single occupant in it.
+
+As the rowboat came nearer, Joe saw that the person in it was a boy. He
+was standing up and waving his hands wildly.
+
+“By jinks! That fellow has no oars!” exclaimed our hero suddenly.
+
+On came the rowboat. It was caught in the mad current, and in a few
+minutes more would pass under the bridge and be hurled over the roaring
+falls.
+
+Then Joe made a discovery that caused his heart to leap into his throat.
+
+The boat was Paul’s craft and the occupant was his brother!
+
+“Save me! Save me!” screamed Paul Johnson.
+
+He saw Joe and held out his hands in despair.
+
+What was to be done?
+
+A thought flashed across Joe’s mind. There was one way in which his
+brother might be saved--only one.
+
+Catching hold of one end of his bicycle our hero lowered the other end
+over the side of the bridge.
+
+He leaned down as far as he dared.
+
+“Catch hold of the wheel, Paul!” he yelled hoarsely.
+
+Ten seconds more and it would be decided if Paul Johnson would be saved
+or if he would be dashed over the falls to his death.
+
+The rowboat was coming along swiftly. Already it was in the shadow of
+the bridge.
+
+Joe bent down still further. One hand clutched the wheel, the other a
+brace of the bridge.
+
+And now the rowboat was directly beneath. Paul stretched out his hands,
+but could not reach the wheel.
+
+“Jump! It’s your only chance!” shouted Joe.
+
+And leaping on a seat, Paul jumped as high as he could.
+
+His fingers grasped the lower rim of the bicycle wheel.
+
+From under him swept the frail rowboat, to be dashed to pieces over
+the falls but a moment later.
+
+The weight of his brother’s body was a great strain on Joe, but he
+managed to keep himself on the bridge.
+
+“Hold tight, Paul!” he cried encouragingly.
+
+“I will, but I can’t climb!” gasped the younger boy.
+
+“I’ll pull you up!”
+
+And Joe did pull him up, until Paul was able to step upon a bridge
+support and spring to the foot-planks.
+
+Paul Johnson was saved!
+
+He let out a sob and threw himself into his brother’s arms.
+
+“Oh, Joe!”
+
+It was all he could say, but the way he uttered the words was enough.
+
+Joe was scarcely less affected. To lose his younger brother would have
+been a bitter blow to him.
+
+For some time the two boys remained on the bridge to catch their breath
+and to get over the intense strain they had endured.
+
+“Your boat is gone, Paul,” said Joe, at length.
+
+“I don’t care. I wouldn’t want to go on the river any more, anyhow,”
+shuddered Paul.
+
+“It always was a dangerous sport, Paul. Let us both save up, and we’ll
+buy a wheel for you to ride.”
+
+Paul was too much overcome to walk home, and he rode behind Joe the
+greater part of the distance.
+
+Our hero wanted to say nothing about the rescue, but Paul would not
+keep silent, and soon it was related how Joe had played the part of a
+hero.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE BULLY RECEIVES A LESSON.
+
+
+The next morning when Joe went to school he was immediately surrounded
+by a crowd of the boys.
+
+“Lemuel Akers says you intend to fight him with one hand,” said half a
+dozen at once.
+
+“I said I would,” replied Joe. “I don’t want to fight, but he must be
+more civil with his tongue.”
+
+Many of the boys shook their heads at this. They believed Joe could
+whip the bully with two hands, but when it came to one hand only they
+were doubtful.
+
+Many of the boys expected an encounter between the pair before school,
+but the bully was late and school was called when he came along.
+
+There would be no chance to fight at noon, so it was arranged that the
+encounter should occur after school.
+
+But toward the middle of the afternoon the sky grew black, and soon it
+began to rain.
+
+“That will spoil all,” said Larry Dare, one of the boys. “They can’t
+fight in a howling rainstorm.”
+
+“True,” replied Sam Anderson, another of the pupils. “They’ll have to
+wait until to-morrow.”
+
+When school let out it was raining as hard as ever.
+
+The master was in a hurry to get off and called one of the big boys to
+him.
+
+“Lathrop,” he said. “I am going off. If the boys want to stay in the
+schoolroom until it clears off let them. I will look to you to lock up.”
+
+“Yes, sir.”
+
+“And, Lathrop, see to it that no skylarking occurs,” added Mr.
+Chalmondey, as he left.
+
+“Yes, sir,” replied Lathrop again, and grinned from ear to ear.
+
+“Now is your chance, fellows!” he cried as soon as the master was gone.
+“Have it out and done with.”
+
+“I am willing,” said Joe quietly, but with determination.
+
+“So am I,” growled the bully, who felt sure that he could give our hero
+a sound drubbing.
+
+A piece of rope was procured, and after Joe had fixed up his clothing
+to suit himself, his left hand was tied behind him. Then Lemuel Akers
+faced him, and a ring was formed.
+
+“All ready?” asked Larry Dare. “Very well, now go in and wax him, Joe!”
+
+“It’s Lem will do the waxing!” retorted Jake Foley, one of the bully’s
+toadies.
+
+Our hero and the bully watched each other like two cats. For several
+seconds neither made any effort to reach each other.
+
+Then Lemuel struck out, but Joe leaped to one side.
+
+With only one hand it was useless to attempt to parry a blow.
+
+Then out shot his fist, and the bully caught a stinging blow that
+caused him to stagger back against a desk.
+
+“Good for Joe!” cried a large part of the crowd.
+
+As quickly as he could Lemuel rushed up once again. He struck out
+several times in quick succession and at last his left hand reached
+Joe’s neck.
+
+It left a long scratch behind it.
+
+Our hero immediately made an important discovery. Lemuel, even with the
+advantage of two hands against one, was not fighting him fair.
+
+The bully had something sharp concealed in the palm of each closed hand.
+
+The moment that Joe made the discovery that the bully was not fighting
+fair he called out time.
+
+“Got enough, have you!” cried Jake Foley.
+
+“I’ve got enough of this sort of fighting,” replied our hero calmly.
+
+“Why, what’s the matter, Joe?” questioned Larry.
+
+“Lemuel Akers is not fighting me fair.”
+
+At this announcement nearly all the boys were greatly astonished.
+
+“He is fighting fair,” blustered Jake Foley.
+
+“He is not--and you know it,” retorted Joe. “He has something hard and
+sharp doubled up in each hand.”
+
+“It’s a lie!” blustered the bully.
+
+“Make him open both of his hands!” suggested several boys.
+
+“You mind your own business,” put in Jake Foley.
+
+“It’s my business to see that Joe has a fair show,” said Larry Dare.
+
+“That’s right,” added Sam Anderson.
+
+“See here, I am here to fight, not to talk,” howled Lemuel.
+
+“But you must fight fair,” said Carl Lathrop. “If you are honest, open
+both of your hands.”
+
+This the bully would not do.
+
+While he was hesitating Joe winked to Larry.
+
+He retired for an instant, then came forward and caught the bully by
+both wrists.
+
+“Now open your fists,” he said sternly.
+
+“Let go my wrists.”
+
+In vain Lemuel tried to free himself.
+
+Jake Foley wanted to spring in at Joe, but Sam and Larry held him back.
+
+Soon Lemuel began to squirm, for Joe was pressing his wrists hard.
+
+“Don’t break my hands!” shrieked the bully at last.
+
+“Then open your fists,” said our hero, and unable to endure the
+pressure longer, the bully opened both hands.
+
+Two sharp pieces of iron about half an inch in diameter fell to the
+floor.
+
+A howl went up from the schoolboys.
+
+“Joe was right!”
+
+“Shame on you, Akers!”
+
+“Give him a big licking now, Joe!”
+
+Suddenly Joe let go his hold. Then he hauled off and gave the bully a
+sharp poke right in the nose.
+
+The blood spouted, and the bully fell with a crash up against a desk.
+For fully a minute he lay dazed, his eyes rolling wildly.
+
+Jake Foley assisted Lemuel to rise.
+
+As the big boy got up a vivid streak of lightning nearly blinded every
+one in the schoolroom.
+
+There followed a deafening peal of thunder, which shook the building
+from top to bottom. Instead of abating, the storm was increasing in
+violence.
+
+The thunder and lightning drove all thoughts of fighting out of the
+scholars’ minds. They huddled together, Joe surrounded by his friends.
+
+Not far away stood Lemuel and Foley, both shaking in their shoes.
+
+The rain came down in torrents, and Carl Lathrop went around to shut up
+all the windows.
+
+“This is the worst yet,” he said. “I’m glad I ain’t on the road.”
+
+“Maybe it would be safer on the road than in here,” observed Sam, as
+the roll of thunder sounded out again.
+
+“Maybe,” replied Carl.
+
+A few minutes passed, and it looked as if the rain was letting up.
+
+Akers and Foley moved toward the door, for they wished to get away just
+as quick as they could.
+
+“I’ll fix you another time,” growled the bully, looking toward Joe.
+
+“I’ll be ready for you any time,” returned our hero calmly. “But you’ll
+have to fight fair.”
+
+At that instant a blinding flash of lightning struck terror to nearly
+every one in the building.
+
+Amid the roar of thunder the lightning seemed to enter the schoolroom
+by the open doorway.
+
+It ran along several desks, and, with a report like that of a gun,
+disappeared up the chimney.
+
+Larry Dare was knocked flat, and several others were partly stunned.
+
+A sulphurous odor filled the place, and a moment later a fire blazed up
+near the chimneypiece.
+
+“Get out of here, boys!” cried Joe. “Quick!”
+
+Blinded and confused, the boys ran out of the building into the pelting
+rain.
+
+Joe waited long enough to pick up Larry’s unconscious form, and then he
+followed.
+
+There was a shed not far away, and here Larry was placed on an old
+door. He was not seriously hurt, and soon returned to consciousness.
+
+The boys were so bewildered they did not know what to do. They stood
+around like a flock of sheep.
+
+“The schoolhouse is on fire!” suddenly cried Carl Lathrop. “See the
+smoke coming out of the door!”
+
+But this report was not true, and presently the boys went back to the
+building. The bully of the school, however, had disappeared.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+A GALLANT SWIM.
+
+
+The next day on account of the damage to the chimney, which was almost
+completely demolished by the lightning, there was no school and Joe and
+Sam Anderson got together and went off for a morning’s fishing.
+
+The mountain streams about the place were much swollen because of the
+heavy rain, and they had little hope of catching much, but they thought
+the outing would be pleasant.
+
+They started out bright and early, their poles over their shoulders and
+their tackle in a basket.
+
+They soon had their lines in readiness, each fixed with a tempting bait.
+
+Joe was the first to cast in, and also the first to draw out a fine fat
+fish, but Sam was not far behind.
+
+Then they went further up the stream, each with a small string of fish
+at the end of his rod.
+
+Hardly a hundred feet had been covered when a shrill scream startled
+both boys.
+
+“What was that?” cried Sam, coming to a halt.
+
+“A woman’s voice,” responded our hero.
+
+Both listened intently.
+
+Again the shrill cry rang out, coming from some distance up the stream.
+
+“Come on!” called Joe, and set off on a run with Sam beside him.
+
+A beautiful young girl was struggling wildly in the middle of the
+swiftly-flowing stream.
+
+She had been in the act of crossing a cove when the bridge gave way in
+the center.
+
+“She will be drowned,” ejaculated Sam Anderson.
+
+“It is Carrie Burns!” called out Joe, a second later, and with a wildly
+beating heart.
+
+“What’s to do?” asked Sam, as he stood helpless.
+
+Our hero thought for a moment. To swim out into midstream and save the
+girl was out of the question. The water ran so swiftly no landing could
+be made with any burden.
+
+“The fishlines!” cried Joe. “Be quick, Sam.”
+
+He brought out his own line and Sam’s and twisted them together.
+
+Then fastening the end of this double line around his waist he leaped
+boldly into the mountain torrent.
+
+The water bubbled and foamed all around him. But he struck out
+undaunted.
+
+“Save me!” cried Carrie Burns, and then she went under the surface, to
+reappear at a distance of fifty feet down stream.
+
+When she came up Joe was but a few yards away. He struck out with
+renewed energy and soon managed to catch hold of her by the arm.
+
+“Cling to me, Carrie!” he said, “and I will save you.”
+
+“Oh, Joe, do not let me drown!” gasped the poor, frightened girl.
+
+She clung to our hero, and he called out to Sam to haul in on the
+fishlines.
+
+“And be careful,” he added, “or the line----”
+
+He got no further.
+
+Crack! Both lines parted and down the stream went Joe and the girl he
+was trying to save.
+
+The force of the mountain stream rolled our hero and the girl over and
+over.
+
+The girl gasped with terror and consequently swallowed a large quantity
+of water.
+
+This filled her with terror and she clutched at Joe’s neck until he was
+almost strangled.
+
+But he managed finally to keep her at a distance and in this manner
+they swept on and on.
+
+The boy knew that something must be done, and that quickly. The girl
+could not endure the water much longer.
+
+He looked ahead. Twenty yards further down stream was a clump of
+willows. Some of the long lashes hung within a foot or two of the
+surface of the bubbling torrent.
+
+Could he grasp hold as they sped by? He resolved to try.
+
+In a second more he was directly beneath the first of the overhanging
+boughs.
+
+He sprang up as far as he could and caught hold of a handful of the
+lashes.
+
+For a brief half-minute they held him, then one after another parted
+and he and his fair burden swept onward.
+
+But Joe was not dismayed by this failure.
+
+Another bough was reached, and again his hand went up. This time he
+caught hold of a strong bough, and although it bent far into the water,
+it did not break.
+
+“Sam! Sam!” he called.
+
+“I’m coming!” was the reply, and Sam Anderson appeared at the foot of
+the willow tree.
+
+“Can you crawl out on the limb and help me?”
+
+“I’ll try it,” replied Sam Anderson.
+
+Throwing down his rods and lines Sam began the ascent of the tree.
+
+Soon he was at a point directly over our hero’s head.
+
+Holding on to the willow lashes with one hand, Joe raised the limp form
+of the girl with the other.
+
+A lot of muscle was required to reach Sam, but it was not wanting.
+
+As soon as Sam had Carrie Burns safe on the upper branch Joe climbed
+into the tree without trouble.
+
+Between them they managed to get the girl to shore. Here they worked
+over her for ten minutes. At the end of that time she opened her eyes
+and sat up.
+
+“Where am I?” she asked faintly.
+
+“You are safe, Carrie, don’t worry,” replied Joe gently.
+
+It was a full hour before Carrie Burns felt strong enough to return to
+her home.
+
+Once again Joe was praised for his bravery. Mr. and Mrs. Burns were
+particularly warm toward our hero, while Dick fairly hugged him.
+
+On the following day school opened as usual.
+
+Jake Foley sneaked in without saying a word to anybody.
+
+Lemuel Akers did not appear, nor did he show up for a week. Then he
+pretended to ignore Joe entirely.
+
+About a week later Carl Lathrop proposed a game of hare and hounds.
+
+The others eagerly assented, and an afternoon was set for the game.
+
+Joe and Carl were chosen as hares, and Larry and Sam as captains of the
+hounds, or “whippers-in.”
+
+To those who have never played the game, we would say that the hares
+are given a certain time to get away in, leaving a trail of white bits
+of paper behind them. Usually a game lasts half, or at times a whole
+day.
+
+School let out early, and five minutes later our hero and Carl Lathrop
+were ready to leave, each with a big bag of white paper under his arm.
+
+“All ready!” asked Sam.
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Then away! Ten minutes for a start and no more!”
+
+On the instant Joe and Carl were off.
+
+“Which way?” asked Carl.
+
+“Let us make for the Sand Cliffs.”
+
+“All right.”
+
+The Sand Cliffs were back of a long series of hills, about four miles
+from the schoolhouse.
+
+As the two boys ran on they talked about the others.
+
+“It’s funny Lemuel Akers wouldn’t join in,” said Carl. “I suppose he is
+mad because he wasn’t chosen a hare.”
+
+“Well, somebody must be a hound,” replied Joe. “Never mind; let us
+forget the mean fellow.”
+
+An hour’s running brought them to the Sand Cliffs.
+
+“We must be pretty well ahead,” said Carl. “Let us rest for a few
+minutes in the shade.”
+
+“All right; I’m willing,” said our hero.
+
+The two threw themselves down at the foot of a high cliff.
+
+As they did this a boy who had been taking it easy behind some bushes
+came out at the top of the cliff.
+
+The boy was Lemuel Akers. When he saw Joe his face took on a hard,
+crafty look.
+
+“So now I have you at my mercy!” he muttered to himself.
+
+Close to the edge of the cliff rested a big rock. It lay in such a
+position that if rolled over the edge it would land directly upon our
+hero’s head.
+
+Lemuel sized up the rock, and then, stealing up to it, shoved hard
+against it with his hands and his shoulder.
+
+There was a scraping of loose pebbles, and then over the edge of the
+cliff rolled the rock, crashing down in a direct line for Joe’s head!
+
+Had the big rock fallen as expected our hero would have been crushed to
+death.
+
+But a single thing saved our hero. The falling of several loose pebbles
+caused him to look up just before the rock came down.
+
+“Jump back!” he yelled to Carl.
+
+And then he made one swift leap to the right.
+
+Boom! Down came the rock, burying itself several inches in the sand. It
+had escaped Joe’s head by a narrow six inches.
+
+The sand flew all over both boys.
+
+Carl grew pale as death and was unable to say a word.
+
+“By Jove, but that was a narrow escape,” murmured our hero as soon as
+he recovered from his shock.
+
+When Akers realized how his plan had miscarried he fled from the spot.
+
+“I--I wonder what made it come down?” gasped Carl at last.
+
+“I suppose it was on the edge and we must have disturbed it when we
+shied those stones up at the birds,” replied Joe.
+
+Not for a moment did he imagine that it was the work of his enemy. He
+was too good-hearted to think so ill of any one.
+
+The boys were afraid the hounds would catch them, and so after leaving
+a bunch of white paper beside the big rock, they hurried on to finish
+the game of hare and hounds.
+
+They ran along the Sand Cliffs for nearly a mile and then turned their
+noses homeward.
+
+From a long distance behind came the toot of a horn carried by Sam
+Anderson.
+
+“We are safe, unless we run into some pocket,” said Joe.
+
+“We must be careful,” rejoined Carl.
+
+Naturally light-hearted, both lads soon forgot the dire peril through
+which they had passed.
+
+They ran on and on, across a patch of woods and then forded a brook,
+where they also stopped long enough to bathe their faces and get a
+drink.
+
+“Run around that clump of bushes and across the lot and back and put
+the paper everywhere,” said Joe. “That will puzzle them to find the
+trail.”
+
+This was done by Carl, and then on they went, almost as fresh as when
+they had started.
+
+The woods passed, they emerged into a large sheep field. The flock of
+sheep was grazing at one end and they stopped for a minute to look at
+the animals.
+
+Then on they went again, but the adventure on the Sand Cliffs had taken
+the sport out of Joe, and ere they reached home the hares were caught.
+
+On the way to Lockport, Sam walked beside Joe and talked over the game.
+
+“By the way,” said Sam. “Who do you suppose I saw sneaking along the
+Sand Cliffs?”
+
+“Who?” asked our hero with much interest.
+
+“Lemuel Akers. As soon as I saw him he darted out of sight.”
+
+Joe did not answer to this. But he did a good bit of thinking.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+IN AN OLD COAL MINE.
+
+
+After the failure of his plot at the Sand Cliffs the bully of Lockport
+was more sour than ever toward Joe.
+
+“I’ll get square, see if I don’t,” he said to Jake Foley.
+
+Foley did not know how Lemuel had tried to harm Joe at the Sand Cliffs,
+but he was willing to do anything his chum desired.
+
+More especially was he willing to help Lemuel when one day our hero
+pitched into him for beating a little boy on the way to school. The
+little boy was lame, and Joe became so angry he gave Jake a most severe
+chastising.
+
+“You big brute,” he said when he was done. “Next time tackle a lad of
+your size.”
+
+Jake sneaked off, with his heart full of bitterness.
+
+“I would like to fix Joe Johnson,” he said.
+
+“So would I,” said Lemuel.
+
+“Can’t we lead him into some sort of a trap?”
+
+“Maybe, if we watch our chance,” returned the bully.
+
+So they both watched Joe closely. But day after day went and still no
+chance came to light.
+
+But in the meantime Lemuel fell in with Phil Henderson, the tramp who
+had received such a knock-down on the road from Joe, when he and his
+cronies had wanted to rob the boy.
+
+Phil Henderson was also waiting for a chance to “fix” Joe, and he
+readily agreed to help Lemuel and Jake in any plan they projected.
+
+One day Jake came to the others with a wicked smile on his face.
+
+“Now we can fix him,” he said.
+
+“How?” demanded Lemuel.
+
+“Joe has made a bet that he is not afraid to walk through the old coal
+mine at midnight. Sam Anderson dared him to do it, and he is going to
+walk through the mine to-morrow night.”
+
+“And will he be alone?” asked Phil Henderson eagerly.
+
+“Of course. He is to take a pack of marked cards, and drop them here
+and there as he walks along, so the boys can see the next morning if he
+really went into all the dark holes and corners.”
+
+“Good!” muttered Lemuel.
+
+“We’ll fix things,” said Henderson.
+
+Then he talked on for several minutes in a whisper.
+
+“Is it a go?” he asked.
+
+“Yes,” replied both boys.
+
+“Then that is settled. If Joe Johnson visits the old mine to-morrow
+night he will never come out as he went in.”
+
+What Jake Foley had said about our hero was true.
+
+In a joke Sam Anderson had proposed the midnight visit.
+
+The deserted coal mine was a very lonely place. Some of the simple
+country folks thought it was haunted by the ghost of a man who had been
+killed there once by a premature blast, and few in the district cared
+to go near the place at night.
+
+But Joe knew no such thing as fear.
+
+“I’ll bet you a first-class pocket-knife you don’t dare go,” said Sam.
+
+And then several other boys offered to bet.
+
+“All right, I take you all up,” declared Joe.
+
+The boys would not at first believe him.
+
+It was our hero who suggested the marked cards for distribution, and
+the boys adopted the suggestion.
+
+The next day passed quickly.
+
+Our hero told his folks about what he was going to do. They merely
+laughed, but in secret they were proud to think he was not one to be
+easily frightened.
+
+After supper Joe went over to Sam’s house.
+
+Soon Larry came along, and at eleven o’clock quite a crowd of boys were
+assembled.
+
+The start was to be made from the blacksmith shop, and promptly at
+half-past eleven Joe took the cards Sam had prepared.
+
+“I’m off now, boys,” he said. “I don’t expect to get back before one or
+half-past. Good night to you.”
+
+At a swinging gait he set off for the old mine, half a mile distant.
+
+Never once did he dream of the peril which there awaited him.
+
+There would be no moon that night, and our hero had only the stars to
+guide him on his lonely way to the deserted quarries.
+
+“It won’t be a very pleasant walk,” he thought. “But the boys dared me,
+and I won’t take a dare from anybody.”
+
+Joe walked on briskly, and to keep his spirits up began to whistle a
+merry tune.
+
+A quarter of an hour brought him to the entrance of the largest of the
+mine openings.
+
+There was more than one pitfall here, but Joe knew the way and went on
+without hesitation.
+
+He was not in the least afraid of ghosts, and had one appeared it is
+more than likely it would have received an unusually warm reception.
+
+Presently he passed a deserted cabin, which had once been occupied by
+the coal-mine watchman.
+
+He had been cautioned to leave a card at the cabin, and so threw one
+through a broken window.
+
+Was it imagination, or did he hear a low chuckle from the inside?
+
+Instead of going on our hero halted.
+
+The average boy would have taken to his heels, but Joe was made of
+different stuff.
+
+No, there was no mistake. The chuckle sounded a second time, and going
+up to the door Joe kicked it open.
+
+“You fellows in there, come out,” he cried. “I heard you, and you can’t
+play any trick on me.”
+
+A deathlike silence followed.
+
+“If I had a match I would light up and hunt you out,” went on Joe, “but
+I can do nothing in the dark. So, either come out or stay there. I am
+not a bit scared.”
+
+Still the silence continued. Then our hero threw another card inside
+and went on.
+
+He thought some of his friends must be in the cabin, but he was
+woefully mistaken.
+
+Hardly had he left the tumble-down building when three figures stole
+forth as silently as so many shadows.
+
+It is needless to say the trio were Akers, Jake Foley and Henderson.
+
+They followed Joe several hundred feet.
+
+Presently our hero reached the edge of a deep hole, from which tons and
+tons of coal had been taken.
+
+It was part of his wager to go down to the bottom of the hole. To prove
+he had been there he must place a card on a flat rock and put another
+rock on top of it. The rock on top would show the card had not merely
+been thrown into the hole.
+
+A series of huge steps led downward. Joe had just reached the first of
+the steps when the three behind him rushed up.
+
+“Now, all together!” cried Henderson, in a thick disguised voice.
+
+The three leaped on Joe and gave him a violent shove.
+
+Our hero tried in vain to save himself. He dropped down and clutched at
+the rocks.
+
+Then he rolled over and went down the stony steps, bump, bump, bump, to
+the bottom.
+
+He lay unconscious, the blood pouring from a dozen wounds.
+
+Evidently his assailants had done their work well.
+
+Henderson lit a lantern and cast the rays downward.
+
+“He’s done for,” he whispered. “Come and get him out of sight.”
+
+“Le--let us run!” stammered Jake Foley, who was as pale as death itself.
+
+“No, do as Henderson says,” put in Lemuel Akers.
+
+He was almost as cool as the older villain.
+
+Thus addressed, Foley followed the pair down the steps, keeping well in
+the rear.
+
+“There is a sort of cave but a short distance away,” said Henderson. “I
+have bunked in it more than once. Let us put him in that.”
+
+But Jake Foley could not be induced to touch the body.
+
+So Akers and Henderson took up the heavy burden and stumbled with it to
+the cave which the older rascal had mentioned.
+
+Then the body was placed on the rocks, and by the light of the lantern
+Henderson went through our hero’s pockets.
+
+He found but little, and was greatly displeased over his ill luck.
+
+“Do hurry!” cried Foley, at least a dozen times. He would have given
+all he was worth to be safe at home.
+
+“You’re a softy!” cried Henderson.
+
+“Yes, Jake, do have a little nerve!” put in Lemuel.
+
+Scarcely had he spoken when an unearthly sound echoed through the air.
+
+The bully’s hair stood on ends, and Jake Foley ran a dozen steps before
+Henderson could stop him.
+
+“A ghost!”
+
+“Let us get out!”
+
+“A ghost nothing,” growled Henderson. “It’s only a tramp cat. There
+are several of them around the old coal mine. It’s their meowing makes
+folks believe there are ghosts here.”
+
+“I won’t stay any longer,” insisted Jake Foley. He was ready to drop
+from fear.
+
+The trio took up their lantern and walked to the entrance of the cave.
+
+A number of large rocks were handy, and soon the opening to the cave
+was tightly closed.
+
+They did their work well, and removed all traces as far as lay in their
+power.
+
+Lemuel had secured the cards Joe had left, and now he quitted the mine
+by a back way, dropping them as he went.
+
+This would put any who came to hunt for poor Joe off the track.
+
+An hour later the trio separated, Foley and Akers going home and
+Henderson making his way to a crossroads tavern a couple of miles away.
+
+“We are rid of Joe Johnson,” said the bully to himself. “I said I would
+get square with him, and I kept my word.”
+
+Yet it must be confessed that Lemuel did not feel as happy as he
+thought he would be.
+
+All night long he tossed on his bed, and in imagination saw Joe’s cold
+white face turned up to his own.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE MISSING BOY.
+
+
+Only a few of the boys hung around after Joe started for the old coal
+mine. They did not dare to remain out too long, and so went home.
+
+Sam and Larry were the last to leave, and then it was with the
+understanding that they were to meet at our hero’s house before five
+o’clock in the morning.
+
+Five o’clock found them on hand. A few minutes later Carl Lathrop came
+up.
+
+It was then the lads received the astonishing bit of information that
+Joe had not yet come home.
+
+His folks were much worried about him, and all wondered where he was.
+
+Half an hour passed, and then Sam, Larry and Carl struck out to hunt
+their chum up.
+
+It took them about the same time to reach the mine as it had taken our
+hero.
+
+“There is a marked card,” said Sam, pointing to the card at the
+entrance, “That shows he entered.”
+
+“I knew something would happen,” said Larry. “The ghosts----”
+
+“Nonsense!” cried Carl. “It’s more likely he slipped and fell. It was
+foolish anyway to come in such darkness.”
+
+The boys walked on and found several other cards, including those left
+in the deserted cabin.
+
+When they came to the pit and the stone steps leading to it they went
+down with great care.
+
+“No card here,” said Larry. “I guess he found the pit too much for him.”
+
+“Hullo! Look here!” suddenly ejaculated Carl.
+
+He pointed to a number of bright red stains on a flat rock at their
+feet.
+
+“What is it?”
+
+“Blood, boys!”
+
+They all gathered around and surveyed the spots with sober faces.
+
+What did it mean?
+
+No solution of the mystery offered itself.
+
+They walked past the rocks which concealed the entrance to the cave
+several times, but never dreamed of what was behind them.
+
+At last they left the pit and walked on.
+
+Soon they came upon the cards Lemuel had so cunningly dropped.
+
+“He came this way and left the mine,” cried Sam.
+
+When the lads saw the cards strung out clear to the fields beyond they
+felt much relieved.
+
+“That settles it,” said Sam. “He certainly left the mine and didn’t
+tumble down those awful steps.”
+
+“But where did he go?” asked Carl.
+
+Ah, that was another question. In vain they sought for a solution.
+
+Later on several other boys joined in the search, and then came a
+number of men.
+
+As a matter of fact, the entire district was alarmed.
+
+Not to appear in any way guilty, Lemuel joined in the search, making
+sure, however, to keep away from the pit in the quarry.
+
+Jake Foley was too sick to do anything. Miserable beyond description,
+he remained around home, out of sight of every one.
+
+And in the meanwhile what of poor Joe? Had that cruel shove into the
+pit really killed him?
+
+Not quite. It was true he was fearfully bruised, and that when he
+finally struck the bottom all became a terrible blank.
+
+How long he remained unconscious he could never afterward tell.
+
+When he came to all was pitch dark around him.
+
+His head ached as it never had before, and with his mind in a whirl he
+climbed out of the cave into which he had been placed and started for
+home.
+
+But he could not go far, and soon sank beneath a clump of bushes and
+became unconscious once more.
+
+At last, after many hours had passed, as we know, he went on again,
+more dead than alive.
+
+He was almost home when he ran plump into Sam and Larry. The boys gave
+a shout and clasped him warmly by the hand.
+
+“My, but I’m glad you are safe!” cried Sam, and Larry uttered words to
+the same effect.
+
+Of course, the lads were anxious to hear Joe’s story, but he felt too
+tired to tell it just then. They walked home with him, and listened to
+all he had to say after he had had some hot coffee to drink and some
+dinner.
+
+“Those rascals meant to kill me, I think,” said Joe, when his story was
+finished. “I only escaped by a miracle.”
+
+“Who were they?”
+
+“I’ll never tell. There seemed to be a man and two boys, but I am not
+sure.”
+
+“You didn’t see their faces?”
+
+“No, it was too dark for that.”
+
+“Did they rob you?”
+
+Our hero had not thought of that. He felt in his pockets.
+
+“Yes.”
+
+This put a new phase on the case, to the others’ way of thinking.
+
+All hands talked it over and came to the conclusion that Joe had been
+followed by three villainous tramps. No doubt the tramps had thought
+him well to do, and imagined they would make a rich haul by robbing him.
+
+A search was organized by the people of the villages around, and that
+night six tramps were brought in. But they all proved their innocence
+and were let go the next day on promise to quit the neighborhood
+immediately.
+
+When Lemuel and Jake heard Joe was safe they could scarcely believe
+their ears. For a whole day they were in mortal terror for fear that
+our hero would mention them as two of the gang who had assaulted him.
+
+It was nearly a week before Joe felt like himself again. He went to
+school, but did not help much at home.
+
+When he again met Jake Foley that boy did not dare to look him in the
+face. Joe did not say anything, but went to thinking. Did Jake know
+anything of the assault? Time would tell.
+
+With Lemuel it was different. He was too brazen-faced and stony-hearted
+to be ashamed at anything. He passed our hero staringly, and even
+spread a report that Joe had got up the tale of the assault just to
+make folks talk about him.
+
+This story our hero did not like, and one day he cornered the bully in
+the schoolyard and the two came to blows in double-quick order, and
+Lemuel went home with two black eyes and a nose that was swollen to
+twice its natural size.
+
+This put the bully in a fearful temper.
+
+“I’ll do him yet, see if I don’t,” he growled to Jake Foley.
+
+“Better let him alone,” said Jake, who was not yet over his scare. “You
+can’t do anything with him, I’m convinced of that.”
+
+“Oh, you always were chicken-hearted,” retorted Lemuel, and then and
+there he and Jake Foley fell out and were friends no more.
+
+It was a good thing for Jake, for he was not naturally a bad lad,
+and he at once became better in a hundred ways until a number of the
+schoolboys got to quite like him. He never tried to harm Joe again.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+A STIRRING FOOT RACE.
+
+
+About a week after the events narrated in the previous chapter Joe was
+on his way from Lockport to a little village several miles up the river.
+
+Instead of riding on his bicycle he was on foot, his machine being
+slightly in need of repairs which could not be made until several days
+later.
+
+Joe had proceeded but a short distance when he was joined by Billy
+Smith, a school chum, and a cousin to Dick Burns.
+
+“Where bound, Joe?” called out Billy.
+
+“To Haverley’s.”
+
+“I’m going there myself.”
+
+“All right; come along.”
+
+“Where’s your wheel?” asked Billy as he came up.
+
+“I’ve got to fix it a bit,” Joe told him. “I don’t mind walking for a
+change,” he added.
+
+“I don’t think I would care much for wheeling,” said Billy. “I prefer
+baseball.”
+
+“I know that,” laughed Joe. “You would rather play ball than eat,
+wouldn’t you?”
+
+“Almost. But, by the way, Joe, are you going to play on our nine this
+season?”
+
+“I will if you wish me to, Billy.”
+
+“Certainly we want you. Charley Osborne spoke of it only yesterday. I
+know you can catch beautifully if you will only try.”
+
+Joe smiled at this. He had caught on the team during the previous
+summer and acquitted himself quite creditably.
+
+“Yes, we’ve been reorganizing the Rushers,” said Billy. “Charley
+Osborne is to be pitcher and we want you to catch.”
+
+“And what of yourself?”
+
+“Oh, I’ll take my old position at first base.”
+
+“I suppose I can catch,” remarked Joe reflectively. “But I don’t know
+about running. I’m all out of practice, I’ve wheeled so much lately.”
+
+“Let’s try a race, just for fun,” cried Billy Smith. “That will be a
+good test.”
+
+“All right. I’ll race you to old Crosby’s well.”
+
+“Done, Joe. Are you ready?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Then toe this mark. One, two, three, go!”
+
+And away the two boys went at top speed down the road.
+
+The well toward which they set their pace was situated at the back end
+of a lot which faced the highway.
+
+The distance to it and back again was over five hundred feet.
+
+The well was in something of a hollow, and down the hill tore the two
+boys at a breakneck speed.
+
+They kept side by side for more than half the distance to the well.
+
+But then Joe forged ahead, and, try his best, Billy Smith could not
+catch up.
+
+“It’s no use, you’ve won,” he said, and dropped into a walk.
+
+“Never mind, Billy, you’ll have a chance to tie me going back,” said
+Joe encouragingly.
+
+Of course the boys intended to stop at the well for a drink. The
+opening had no buckets to it, and the boys had to dip down with an old
+tin can to get water.
+
+But oh! how cool and refreshing it was! And as they were so hot it
+actually tasted sweet to them.
+
+Soon the two boys had their fill of water, and they prepared to return
+to the road when a strange rattle sounded in the bushes back of the
+well.
+
+“Listen! What is that?” exclaimed Billy Smith.
+
+“It sounded like a rattlesnake!” cried Joe. “Let us go and see if it is
+a snake,” he added fearlessly.
+
+Arming themselves with sticks and stones, the two lads circled about
+the bushes in question.
+
+Suddenly Billy Smith gave a loud laugh.
+
+“Here is your rattler!” he exclaimed. “Nothing but a drunken tramp,
+sleeping off the effects of the bad whisky he’s been drinking.”
+
+Joe looked troubled.
+
+“I don’t see how he could make that noise,” he returned slowly. “He is
+snoring, but that is all. Perhaps--oh! Billy, look!”
+
+Joe stopped short and pointed to a low tree that overhung the spot
+where the sleeping tramp lay.
+
+There, wound around one of the lower branches, was a big rattlesnake.
+His eyes were as bright as diamonds and he was on the point of dropping
+down and striking at the unconscious man with his deadly fangs!
+
+It would be useless to deny that the two boys were much startled by
+what they saw. They realized that the drunken tramp was in mortal
+danger of his life. Should the rattlesnake really strike him it would
+be doubtful if he could ever come to his senses.
+
+“Oh! what shall we do?” gasped Billy Smith as he fell back a couple of
+paces.
+
+There was no time to answer. A moment of hesitation and it might be too
+late to act.
+
+In his hand Joe carried a large and sharp-sided stone. Taking careful
+aim with this, he let drive at the snake’s head.
+
+His aim was true. The stone struck the reptile directly in one eye,
+inflicting a severe wound.
+
+At once they heard an angry rattle, and the reptile wound and unwound
+itself about the tree with lighting-like rapidity. It was suffering
+intense pain and was now more furious than ever.
+
+As it curved about, Joe rushed forward and pulled the tramp several
+yards off in the direction of the well.
+
+“Wake up! Snakes!” he yelled.
+
+“Lemme--hic--alone,” muttered the tramp. “I ain’t got no--hic--snakes.
+Only overcome by the--hic--sunshine.”
+
+“There are real snakes here! Look out!” put in Billy Smith.
+
+At this the tramp staggered to his feet. He saw the writhing rattler,
+and, letting out one long scream of deadly terror, he fled toward the
+road, his ragged coat-tails streaming out behind him.
+
+During this time Joe had again advanced upon the snake. With his stick
+he struck half a dozen blows. Billy Smith jumped in to help him.
+
+The rattlesnake fought desperately, but with one eye gone he was at a
+disadvantage, and inside of five minutes Billy gave him a final whack
+that stretched him out lifeless.
+
+“By jinks! but that was a stirring fight,” cried Billy when all was
+over.
+
+“I don’t want another such in a hurry,” replied Joe, and he shuddered
+as he viewed the shining reptile.
+
+“You saved that tramp’s life.”
+
+They measured the snake and found it was nearly five feet long and had
+nine rattles.
+
+“If he wasn’t so bruised I would take him home and have him stuffed,”
+said Joe.
+
+“Never mind; let us take him along anyway,” said Billy. “We can show
+him to the other boys. Maybe they won’t believe such a snake story
+unless they see the snake.”
+
+While they were tying the snake to a long stick old Farmer Crosby came
+along from another field.
+
+“By gum! Got a rattler, hev yeou!” he said, as he stared at their
+victim. “Ye must hev had a lively fight, boys.”
+
+“We did have.”
+
+“I seed thet rattler last week, over in the cornfield. But I didn’t
+tackle him, I can tell ye thet!”
+
+Farmer Crosby was glad the snake was dead. He told the boys they could
+come to the farm and hunt snakes any time they pleased.
+
+“No, thanks; we are not in that business,” laughed Billy.
+
+The fight with the snake had driven all thoughts of the footrace out of
+the two boys’ heads. They walked back to the road slowly, carrying the
+dead snake between them.
+
+The first person they met was Charley Osborne, the young baseball
+player Billy had mentioned.
+
+Charley was greatly surprised.
+
+“Took him in the eye, eh,” he said. “Joe, if you can throw so straight
+as that you had better take my place on the nine as pitcher.”
+
+“No, I’ll stay behind the bat and put men out when they try to steal
+bases,” laughed our hero.
+
+The snake was showed to all the boys, and then Billy took it home.
+
+Later on it was stuffed and hung up in the club-room the Rushers had
+hired and furnished.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+JOE AND THE OLD APPLEWOMAN.
+
+
+That evening Charley Osborne and Billy Smith called a special meeting
+of the baseball club, at which Joe was present.
+
+“The Stars want to play us next Saturday,” Charley said, as he held up
+a communication. “Shall we accept or put off the match?”
+
+“Let us accept,” said Billy. “We can practice every afternoon and get
+into good shape, to my way of thinking.”
+
+The matter was talked over and finally the other boys decided to follow
+this advice.
+
+A communication accepting the challenge was written by Charley and sent
+to the Stars on the following Monday.
+
+Then the Rushers settled down to steady, hard practice with Joe as
+their catcher.
+
+A few evenings later Joe spent two hours at Billy Smith’s house helping
+his friend fix up and paint a rowboat to be used on the lake.
+
+When he left Billy’s house he found the sky overcast. In the west the
+thunder rumbled, telling that a storm was not far off.
+
+Not wishing to be caught out without an umbrella, our hero started for
+his home on a swift walk.
+
+He had gone about two blocks when, on turning a street corner, a sight
+met his gaze that caused his blood to boil.
+
+An old woman known as Apple Mary, who sold fruit and candy throughout
+the district, was in the hands of two cowardly footpads, who were
+trying to rob her of her hard-earned savings.
+
+One of the footpads was behind the old woman, and had his hands over
+her mouth so she could not scream. The other footpad was in front,
+trying to find the pocket in Apple Mary’s dress.
+
+“Got it, Henderson?” asked the footpad in the rear.
+
+“No, hang the luck, I can’t find the pocket!” growled his companion.
+
+“Den cut der dress!”
+
+To follow this advice the other footpad brought out a big pocket-knife.
+
+He was in the act of cutting the garment mentioned when Joe came up on
+a run.
+
+“Leave that old lady alone!” he cried indignantly.
+
+“Mind yer own business!” howled both footpads.
+
+Scarcely had they spoken when Joe’s arm shot out.
+
+The footpad who was holding Apple Mary received a blow in the neck that
+almost bowled him over.
+
+Seeing this the other footpad leaped toward our hero, but the lad was
+not to be caught. He dodged off and began to cry for the police.
+
+“Shut up!” howled one of the footpads.
+
+In the meanwhile Apple Mary, finding herself free, pulled something
+from under her skirt. It was an old Irish hawthorn stick.
+
+“Bad cess to ye, ye villains!” she cried, and then she went at one of
+the footpads, tooth and nail.
+
+She was thoroughly aroused, and before the rascal could retreat she
+gave him a whack over the head that almost paralyzed him.
+
+“Good for you, Mary!” shouted Joe. “He deserves it.”
+
+But now the footpads thought it time to clear out, and both ran up the
+street, and a moment later vanished in the darkness.
+
+By the time the constable who did duty as a policeman at night in
+Lockport arrived, it was too late to attempt to hunt them up, although
+the officer made a great show of doing so.
+
+“I owe ye wan for that, Joe Johnson,” said Apple Mary. “’Tis yerself
+that has a stout heart under yer coat, so ye have!”
+
+And she gave his hand a warm shake.
+
+“Did they know you had money with you?” asked the youth.
+
+“Most likely, the villains! Oi got a hundred dollars from the bank
+to-day, to pay on me little home. Oi have it in a bag here,” and Apple
+Mary tapped her skirt.
+
+“Maybe I had better see you safe home then,” said Joe, and he
+accompanied the old Irish woman to the humble cottage she occupied on
+one of the side streets of the town.
+
+Before he left her she thanked him again.
+
+“You’ll be a great man some day,” she said. “You will have thousands of
+friends, mark my wurrud.”
+
+Joe walked home in a thoughtful mood.
+
+“I wonder if Apple Mary is right,” he asked himself. “Will I have
+thousands of friends? I surely hope so.”
+
+Two days passed and the Rushers kept steady at work on the diamond.
+
+Charley Osborne was getting his new curve down fine, and Joe managed
+to catch nearly everything that came over the plate untouched.
+
+“I don’t know what I would do without Joe behind the plate,” Charley
+said more than once. “He is so reliable that he gives me great
+confidence.”
+
+On Friday Sam Anderson, who was also on the nine, came to the meeting
+place looking very much excited.
+
+“Boys, I have a bit of news,” he said.
+
+“All right, Sam; let us have it.”
+
+“I’ve got word in a roundabout way from the Stars.”
+
+“What of them?”
+
+“They intend to beat us.”
+
+“Chestnuts!”
+
+“They can’t do it.”
+
+“Hear me out, boys. They intend to beat us. If they can’t do it by fair
+means, they intend to do it by foul.”
+
+Instantly every one of the Rushers was more than interested. They
+crowded about Sam waiting for him to explain.
+
+But the explanation was not forthcoming.
+
+“I can’t tell you how it is to be done,” said Sam. “All I know is what
+my father told me. He said we must be careful and not get into any
+trouble with the Independence boys.”
+
+“But what does he know?” asked Joe with much interest.
+
+“He was over to Independence to-day, and while he was waiting at a
+store for a man three boys came along. He knew them to be players on
+the Stars, although he doesn’t know their names. He heard them talking
+about the game Saturday and about what they intended to do. He said
+they talked as if they had some trick arranged.”
+
+At this the members of the local club grew serious.
+
+It would not have been so bad had they known what the Stars were up to.
+
+It was the dread of the unknown that haunted them. They talked the
+matter over.
+
+“Every one must be on guard,” said Joe. “They must not be allowed to
+tamper with the balls or bats.”
+
+“Nor the drinking water,” put in Larry Dare, the shortstop. “I believe
+the time they won they put something in the water. I never had such a
+headache in my life.”
+
+“Nor I!” cried Carl Lathrop, who was one of the fielders.
+
+“I believe the water was tampered with beyond a doubt,” said Charley
+Osborne.
+
+“We’ll all keep wide awake. Don’t touch water or anything else unless
+you are certain it is O. K.”
+
+That was Joe’s advice, and they resolved to follow it.
+
+After this the boys went out to practice.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+THE BASEBALL GAME.
+
+
+While the Rushers were out on the common, an old professor from the
+Greenpoint college came along.
+
+His name was Stizik, and he was a very gruff, unsociable man.
+
+He stood and watched Charley Osborne pitch for a few minutes.
+
+Then he heard Billy mention the out and the in curves, and smiled
+sarcastically to himself.
+
+“No such things as out and in and up curves,” he sniffed. “Utter
+impossibility--contrary to all the laws of gravitation.”
+
+“Charley curves the ball--or rather the ball follows a curving line,”
+said Joe stoutly. “I can see it.”
+
+“Only an optical delusion,” snorted Stizik. “Couldn’t possibly curve in
+any direction but downward.”
+
+Joe knew that many people contended the same thing--to this day some
+will not believe that a so-called “curved” ball can be pitched--but he
+stuck to what he thought true.
+
+An argument arose, and then the professor himself made a novel
+proposition.
+
+“We will make a number of square frames and cover them with tissue
+paper. Then he can pitch one of the so styled curved balls through the
+line of frames. The holes through the tissue paper--we will make the
+paper damp--will tell if the ball curved or not.”
+
+At once the boys took up the idea. Some long laths were procured, and
+soon the frames were ready.
+
+One was set up over the home plate and four others at equal distances
+between that point and the pitcher’s box.
+
+“Now, if you can pitch the ball in a curved line, I’ll make the club a
+present of new caps,” said Professor Stizik.
+
+He felt certain Charley could pitch nothing but a straight ball.
+
+“All right! Here goes!” cried Charley.
+
+His arm went back, and through the wet paper went the baseball at a
+fair degree of rapidity.
+
+“Now you’ll see how much you are mistaken!” cried Professor Stizik, as
+the frames were brought together.
+
+But in less than half a minute his face wore a glum look.
+
+Between the first and the last frames the wet paper showed that the
+ball had curved outwardly nearly ten inches.
+
+“I said he could do it!” cried Joe. “I have been behind the bat too
+long to be mistaken.”
+
+“You boys didn’t hold the frames straight,” growled Professor Stizik,
+and off he walked as fast as he could.
+
+He never bought the boys the caps he had promised, but neither did he
+ever attempt to dispute with them again.
+
+The match with the Stars was to be held on a big lot on the outskirts
+of Lockport. Here a grand stand capable of holding three hundred people
+was erected. Admission to the stand was ten cents--the money to go,
+one-quarter to the losing team and three-quarters to the club that won.
+
+The Rushers were on the field bright and early. They wore neat suits
+they had just purchased, and made such a fine appearance that they
+elicited a round of applause.
+
+When the Stars appeared they brought with them over half a hundred
+boys from Independence, many of them tough-looking customers.
+
+An umpire named Valley had already been decided upon.
+
+The Stars won the toss, and sent the Rushers to the bat first.
+
+“Now, nothing like making a good beginning,” said Joe, as Charley took
+up the stick.
+
+But Charley was destined to fan the air. He could not connect with
+the really swift balls the Stars’ pitcher sent in, and he went out on
+strikes.
+
+A cheer went up from the rooters from Independence.
+
+“That’s the way to serve ’em, Jake!” they yelled to their pitcher.
+
+“Don’t give ’em a single hit!”
+
+Billy was next at the bat. He missed two balls and then went out on a
+fly to second base.
+
+The third boy at the bat was Sam Anderson. He knocked a foul into the
+catcher’s hands, and the first half of the innings was over.
+
+How the Independence boys did yell! They thought they had a sure
+victory from the start.
+
+“Don’t give ’em any leeway, Charley,” whispered Joe to Osborne, as they
+walked from the bench. “We must shut them out also.”
+
+“All right.”
+
+The first player up was put out easily. Charley pitched one wild ball,
+but our hero made a leap into the air and secured it quickly. The
+Rushers’ friends applauded this.
+
+The second player of the Stars knocked a weak one between first and
+second bases. The ball was fumbled and he got his base on a close
+decision.
+
+“Hurrah for the Stars!”
+
+“Now bring it in, Terry!”
+
+The next man up knocked a safe hit to right field. He got first and the
+other runner managed to get around to third.
+
+The next player went out on strikes.
+
+Then came a safe hit to center. The batter got down and the man on
+third came home.
+
+The Independence boys were wild with joy. They had scored the first run.
+
+Joe walked down to Charley.
+
+“Keep cool, old man,” he said, “the game is still young.”
+
+This advice had its effect. Charley pitched superbly, and the Stars
+went down with only one run to their credit.
+
+The second inning was short. On both sides the players went out in
+one, two, three order. Billy made a big hit to center, but the fly was
+caught and went for nothing.
+
+In the third inning the Rushers tied the score.
+
+Then the Lockport boys took their turn at yelling.
+
+One to one remained on the score board until the seventh inning, when
+Joe called the boys together.
+
+“We must do something this time, fellows,” he said. “O’Donnell, start
+her up lively.”
+
+And O’Donnell did, making a safe two-bagger.
+
+Several more safe hits followed. Then another Rusher sent out a red-hot
+liner that brought him three bases.
+
+End of the seventh inning: Stars, one; Rushers, five.
+
+The boys from Independence began to look as blue as indigo. The
+Lockport lads could hardly contain themselves.
+
+“Now keep ’em down,” said Charley.
+
+“Yes, you keep ’em down,” put in Carl.
+
+In the eighth inning the Stars began to grow desperate. They did their
+best and brought in two runs, making the score: Stars, three; Rushers,
+five.
+
+In the ninth inning Joe was the first man at the bat. Two strikes were
+called on him, and then he knocked a safe one over in left field. He
+tore down to first, over to second, up to third--and hesitated.
+
+“Run, run, you are all right!”
+
+It was Charley who called to him, and once more he started. But
+something was under his shoe, and he slipped and fell headlong.
+
+As quick as a wink the third baseman stooped, and picking up something,
+put it in his pocket.
+
+It was now useless to try to reach the home plate, and our hero went
+back to the base.
+
+“You tripped me with something,” he said to the baseman sharply.
+
+“Wot yer givin’ me?” growled the fellow.
+
+Joe said no more, but he set to thinking. This was evidently the trick
+the Stars intended to play.
+
+The other players now came up, but were put out on strikes and a foul.
+
+The Rushers had had their innings, and their total number of runs was
+still five.
+
+To beat them the Stars must make three runs in their last half of the
+ninth.
+
+The Stars’ heavy batters were up.
+
+Charley Osborne grew just a bit nervous, and, as a consequence, before
+they knew it two men were on bases.
+
+Then a batter knocked a safe two-base hit, and one of the runners came
+home.
+
+This made the score: Stars, four; Rushers, five
+
+“Go it, Stars!”
+
+“Shut ’em out, Rushers!”
+
+The next boy went out on strikes, and the player to follow did the same.
+
+“Now, one more out and the game is ours,” thought Joe.
+
+But the next batter, by accident, struck a little one to second and
+reached first on a wild throw, while the other runner went to third.
+
+Two out, two men on bases, and two runs to win the game; that was the
+way the Stars sized it up.
+
+Then the Stars’ heaviest batter came up to the plate, and a cheer
+arose, for he was a great favorite.
+
+“Knock a homer, Pete!”
+
+“You can do it, old fellow.”
+
+Charley Osborne was pale and his teeth were set.
+
+He felt that to a great extent the game depended on him.
+
+He sent in one of his outer curves.
+
+The Stars’ crack batter hit out and missed it.
+
+“Good for you, Charley!”
+
+Again Charley took his position. A pause, a look at the men on bases,
+and once more the ball came rushing over the plate.
+
+Crack! The batter had hit out hard. But instead of driving into the
+diamond, the ball went sailing up into the air over Joe’s head.
+
+“Run for it!”
+
+“You must get it!”
+
+“He can’t reach it!”
+
+Back and still further back went Joe with the speed of the wind.
+
+The foul tip was just over the backstop board.
+
+With a mighty spring the boy leaped up on the fence and reached out his
+hand.
+
+To the Rushers it seemed as if the fate of the club hung in Joe’s hands.
+
+Should he muff that foul, the chances were that the heavy hitter of the
+Stars would line out at least a two-bagger and bring in the runs to win
+the game.
+
+The ball was now nearing the ground, our hero strained over still
+further, until it looked as if he must lose his balance and topple over
+on the other side of the fence.
+
+“You’ll break your neck!”
+
+“The ball is out of his reach.”
+
+A pause.
+
+“He has it!”
+
+“Bannon is out!”
+
+“The Rushers have won!”
+
+It was true.
+
+The ball just touched the tips of our hero’s fingers, but he clung to
+it like grim death, and thus brought the game to a conclusion.
+
+Score--Rushers, five; Stars, four.
+
+Maybe the Lockport lads did not yell themselves hoarse.
+
+The Independence boys had nothing to say. They rushed for their
+dressing place and sneaked off as quickly as they could.
+
+All of the Lockport boys praised Joe. They said he had saved the game
+beyond a doubt.
+
+And all agreed that his was the greatest catch ever witnessed on the
+grounds.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+FUN ON THE GREEN.
+
+
+After the great game with the Independence Club the Lockport boys
+practiced harder than ever.
+
+Joe took a particular interest in long-distance throwing. He tried his
+arm constantly and was soon able to throw fifteen feet further than any
+other member of the club.
+
+“But you can’t throw as accurately as I can,” said Will Gibson, one of
+the outfielders.
+
+“I’ll match you and see,” said our hero.
+
+The novel contest took place one Saturday afternoon before the boys
+started in to play a practice game with a scrub nine.
+
+Joe and Gibson walked down in deep center and took positions side by
+side.
+
+Then Dick Burns, who was out for the first time since the accident,
+placed a bushel basket directly on the home plate.
+
+Each boy was to throw a ball three times at given signals. The one who
+threw the most times into the basket was to be the winner.
+
+Joe and Gibson were both provided with balls.
+
+“Ready?” shouted Billy.
+
+“Yes.”
+
+There was a pause.
+
+“Throw!”
+
+Whiz!
+
+Along came both of the balls, thrown at exactly the same time.
+
+Gibson’s struck the rim of the basket and bounced inside.
+
+Joe’s bounced a dozen feet away.
+
+“One for Gibson!”
+
+“That was hardly a fair trial!”
+
+The balls were sent back to our hero and Gibson, and again they got
+ready.
+
+“Throw!” shouted Billy Smith once more.
+
+The spheres flew through the air.
+
+Gibson’s went high up, but Joe’s cut only a graceful curve.
+
+Plump!
+
+Our hero’s struck the basket squarely in the center.
+
+Gibson’s shot over the mark several feet.
+
+“A tie!”
+
+“The ball slipped!” growled Will Gibson.
+
+Now came the decisive throw. Both boys handled the balls carefully, and
+looked well to the spots in which they were standing. The crowd held
+its breath.
+
+“Throw!” shouted Billy for the third and last time.
+
+Again the two balls came along.
+
+Plump!
+
+Joe’s hit the center of the basket again.
+
+Gibson’s struck the rim, knocking the basket over.
+
+“Joe Johnson has won!”
+
+“My! what clever throwing!”
+
+Will Gibson was put out over his failure to win.
+
+“I’ll tell you what I can do,” he said after the practice game was
+over. “I can throw higher than you.”
+
+“Perhaps you can, Will,” replied Joe. “There is no advantage in that,
+though--I mean in ball playing.”
+
+“Never mind, I’ll bet I can do it.”
+
+“I’ll bet you can’t!” cried Charley. “Joe can throw over the church
+steeple.”
+
+“So can I, and I’ll put the ball over the weather vane in the bargain.”
+
+“You can’t do it!”
+
+“I can!”
+
+One word brought on another, and finally our hero was persuaded to
+throw over the church steeple against Gibson.
+
+Fifteen or twenty fellows went along to see the contest.
+
+The church was on the outskirts, and had a steeple of wood and iron. In
+the steeple were several windows, and on the top was a gilded weather
+vane, reaching six or eight feet into the air.
+
+Instead of throwing at the same time, the boys drew lots as to who
+should try first. Gibson won, and chose to throw last.
+
+A standing spot was chosen, and carefully measuring the distance, Joe
+let fly the ball.
+
+Up and up it went into the air, for our hero had thrown it with
+incredible power.
+
+It continued to go up until the top of the steeple was reached.
+
+And now it was on a level with the weather vane.
+
+Up over that fully a yard it curved, and then it began to fall on the
+other side of the church.
+
+The crowd set up a cheer, and Will Gibson’s face fell. He could not
+hope to do better than that, if as well.
+
+“Never mind, Will, tie him!” shouted his friends
+
+The ball was brought back and Gibson took it.
+
+He leaned far back and hurled the sphere with all the force at his
+command. Up it sailed into the air.
+
+Crash! Jingle! jingle! jingle!
+
+Instead of going over the steeple the ball had struck one of the
+topmost windows, shattering the center of the frame and four panes of
+colored glass!
+
+The entire crowd was astonished at the unexpected turn affairs had
+taken.
+
+Will Gibson turned a sickly green, and his face took on a look of alarm.
+
+“Gosh! I didn’t mean to do that!” he cried. “What will old Mallory say
+to that?”
+
+Mallory was the sexton of the church.
+
+“Never mind, it was an accident, and we’ll have to chip in and pay for
+the damage done,” said Joe.
+
+He had hardly spoken when Mallory came rushing out of the edifice, his
+face full of rage. He was a disagreeable man, and all wondered how it
+was that he kept his present position.
+
+“Who smashed those windows?” he roared.
+
+He had been up in the belfry fixing the bell rope. The crash had almost
+scared him out of his wits, he thinking the whole steeple was about to
+fall.
+
+No one answered him.
+
+“I say, who smashed those windows?” he went on. “Answer me, or I’ll
+have the whole crowd arrested.”
+
+“It was an accident, Mr. Mallory--” began Joe.
+
+“Accident! Not much! Did you do it?”
+
+“No.”
+
+“Then who did?”
+
+“You must find out for yourself.”
+
+“Ha! don’t sass me!”
+
+Joe shrugged his shoulders and attempted to move away. Mallory caught
+him by the shoulder.
+
+“Tell me who did this.”
+
+“I will not. Let me go.”
+
+“If you don’t answer I’ll have you locked up.”
+
+Joe simply looked at the enraged man. Then before more could be said,
+some small boy in the rear piped in.
+
+“Please, sir, it was Will Gibson who busted the window.”
+
+“Get out of here, Nicky Dill!” shouted half a dozen of the other lads,
+and, scared out of his wits, the tell-tale took to his heels.
+
+“Will Gibson, eh?” growled Mallory. “Come here!”
+
+He strode over to Will Gibson and grabbed him by the collar.
+
+“I’ll pay for the window, Mr. Mallory.”
+
+“You’ll go to jail!”
+
+“Why should he if he is willing to pay?” asked Carl. “It was an
+accident.”
+
+“I don’t care, he’ll go to jail!” howled Mallory stubbornly.
+
+“I won’t go to jail!” cried Will Gibson.
+
+He was a nice fellow, and the idea of being locked up filled him with
+terror.
+
+“You will!”
+
+Scarcely had the sexton spoken when Will gave a dexterous twist and
+broke away from the angry man. He started to run, and Mallory made
+after him.
+
+Back of the church was an extensive churchyard. Into this shady and
+quiet spot sped Gibson, with Mallory at his heels. The boys all joined
+in the chase.
+
+“It’s a shame!”
+
+“Let him go! We’ll pay for the window!”
+
+“I won’t!” bellowed Mallory. It made him still more angry to have Will
+Gibson slip from his clutches.
+
+Along one of the main paths sped Will. He was a good runner, and
+speedily outdistanced the sexton.
+
+Presently Will reached a spot overhung with evergreens. He dove beneath
+the trees and turned across a patch of thick grass.
+
+When Mallory reached the evergreens the boy was nowhere in sight.
+
+In vain the sexton looked around for him. Will had completely
+disappeared.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+AN ADVENTURE IN A CEMETERY.
+
+
+The other boys were relieved to think Gibson had so cleverly outwitted
+the sexton.
+
+They hung around until Mallory grew angry and drove them all out of the
+grounds.
+
+The sexton wanted to call on Will’s folks, but he had too much work on
+hand to take the necessary time that day.
+
+The boys dispersed and went home, thinking Will had already reached his
+dwelling place.
+
+Joe left also, and after supper he and Billy Smith walked around to
+Will’s home to learn what Gibson might have to say.
+
+A surprise awaited them. Will had not yet come home, and his folks were
+much worried about him.
+
+“He is afraid of being locked up,” said Billy.
+
+And he told Mr. Gibson of what had taken place.
+
+“He will not be locked up,” said Will’s father. “I will pay the
+damages. If you see him, tell him to come home at once, as his mother
+is worried.”
+
+At nine o’clock Will had not yet turned up.
+
+“See here,” said Joe to Billy. “Maybe something has happened to him.”
+
+“What could happen?”
+
+“Maybe he fell into a hole dug for a grave, or something like that.”
+
+“I didn’t see any new holes,” said Billy.
+
+“It’s queer, but I feel just as if we ought to go to the cemetery, and
+take a look around. Perhaps he was tackled as I was at the old coal
+mine.”
+
+Billy shivered. He did not much like the idea, but finally Joe
+persuaded him to go along.
+
+Although it was summer time, it was dark when the pair reached the
+cemetery gates. They found the big iron barriers closed.
+
+“We’ll have to climb over,” said our hero. “Here goes!”
+
+And over the iron fence he went, and Billy Smith followed.
+
+Under the evergreens it was still darker, and Billy came to a halt.
+
+“Supposing a ghost--” he began.
+
+“Ghosts! nonsense! Don’t be foolish, Billy. There is no such thing as a
+ghost.”
+
+Keeping side by side the two boys stole quickly along the path Will had
+taken while running from Mallory.
+
+Soon the evergreens were passed, and they halted in a sort of hollow.
+To one side was a great stone vault, partly covered with dirt and sods.
+The vault had a heavy iron door, which was tightly closed.
+
+“My gracious! what was that!” gasped Billy Smith.
+
+A low, muffled sound had reached his ears.
+
+“I don’t know. Listen!”
+
+Again the sound echoed around them, sending a chill down their
+backbones.
+
+“Sounds like somebody in a coffin trying to get out!” gasped Billy.
+
+“You couldn’t hear a person in a coffin.”
+
+Again they listened. Then Joe walked over to the door of the vault and
+knocked upon it. Immediately an answering knock came back.
+
+“I’ll bet Will Gibson is locked in the vault!”
+
+“Oh, Joe!” cried Billy.
+
+He also sprang to the door.
+
+“Is that you, Will?”
+
+“Yes! yes! let me out!”
+
+Poor Will Gibson was a prisoner in the vault. He had run in there to
+hide, closing the door behind him. The latch above the lock had sprung
+into place, and after Mallory and the others had gone away he had been
+unable to release himself.
+
+Joe quickly raised the latch and pulled the door open.
+
+Out of the darkness staggered Will. The air in the vault, which was
+empty, had nearly suffocated him, and he could scarcely stand.
+
+Joe and Billy led him to a stone step, and there the three boys sat
+down to rest.
+
+“Oh, how thankful I am that you came for me,” said Will. “I was going
+crazy in there!”
+
+“It’s a terrible place to be locked in,” remarked Billy.
+
+It was after eleven o’clock when the boys started to go home.
+
+They had just passed the evergreen trees when Joe suddenly clutched
+both companions by the arm.
+
+“Hist! look there!” he whispered.
+
+And he nodded to their left, where three men were stealing along, one
+with a half-closed lantern, and the others with picks and shovels.
+
+“What can they be up to?” asked Billy, after a breathless pause.
+
+“They are going to dig up a dead body.”
+
+“Body snatchers?” queried Will.
+
+“Exactly.”
+
+“Oh, what a shame!”
+
+“They ought to be locked up!”
+
+“They shan’t get any body to-night,” said Joe with sudden determination.
+
+For a long while dead bodies had been taken from that cemetery. The
+authorities had tried in vain to catch the offenders. They were
+supposed to sell the bodies to some of the local medical colleges, but
+no clew to work upon could be obtained.
+
+Night after night a watch had been set, but every time the body
+snatchers were too shrewd for the police.
+
+No body had been taken now for over a month, and the authorities had
+relaxed their vigilance.
+
+“What will you do?” asked Billy.
+
+“Let one of us go for the police while the others watch these chaps.”
+
+This was agreed on. But who should go?
+
+Will was selected, and he promised to bring help with all possible
+speed.
+
+As soon as he was gone, our hero and Billy Smith stole after the body
+snatchers.
+
+They soon tracked them to a new portion of the cemetery.
+
+Here, in a corner, a woman had been buried that very day.
+
+Setting down the lantern behind a bush the three men took their picks
+and shovels and went to work with a will.
+
+They wanted to get the body out, fill up the grave again, and be off
+ere midnight.
+
+Three hands at one grave made quick work of the semi-loose dirt, and it
+was not long ere the box containing the coffin was reached.
+
+“Will ought to be coming back soon,” murmured Billy.
+
+“Go toward the gate and see if you can learn anything about him,”
+replied Joe. “I’ll stay on guard alone.”
+
+And Billy went off as silently as a shadow.
+
+With several ropes the body snatchers raised the box to the surface.
+Then with his shovel one of the gang started to pry off the lid of the
+box.
+
+At that moment Joe heard a soft but well-known whistle coming from Will
+Gibson.
+
+He replied, and so did Billy.
+
+The grave despoilers started back.
+
+“What’s that, Bill?” asked one.
+
+“I didn’t hear anything.”
+
+“It was a night bird,” said the third man. “Hurry up, Candors. We want
+to get that coffin to the wagon before twelve o’clock.”
+
+Then Joe felt his arm touched. There was Will accompanied by two of
+the Lockport constables. Billy came behind the trio.
+
+“Just in time!” whispered Joe.
+
+“Will you boys help us?” asked the leading officer.
+
+“Certainly,” said our hero.
+
+“Of course,” added Billy and Will.
+
+“Then let us surround these chaps. There are some sticks, better arm
+yourselves.”
+
+A moment later the officers strode forward.
+
+“Surrender! Hands up, all of you!”
+
+The body snatchers were taken completely by surprise.
+
+They started to run, but it was useless.
+
+The leader was shot in the leg by one of the constables, and stumbled
+headlong.
+
+In five minutes more every one of the body snatchers was handcuffed and
+on his way to jail.
+
+The cemetery authorities were notified, and they of course at once had
+the coffin box put back into place.
+
+The boys got warm praise for what they had done, and no more was said
+about the broken windows in the church steeple.
+
+Later on the body snatchers, who proved to hail from a distant city,
+were all tried and sentenced to long terms in prison.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+AN ACCIDENT ON THE RAILROAD.
+
+
+After the affair in the cemetery matters drifted along somewhat quietly
+for several days.
+
+Then Joe was called upon by his father to go on a trip to Cleveland to
+pay some money which was due to an insurance company.
+
+He was to go on the journey by train, and started off early in the day.
+
+In the cars he met Charley Osborne, and the two sat down together.
+
+“It’s awfully foggy,” said Charley. “By gracious! I shouldn’t think the
+engineer could see two yards ahead of him.”
+
+“It’s dangerous traveling in this weather,” replied Joe. “I wish it was
+clearer.”
+
+“So do I--we could look out of the window,” replied Charley.
+
+On rushed the train through the fog. The engineer was behind time, and
+was doing his best to make up his schedule.
+
+“We’re moving along, eh?” cried Joe as the car gave an extra jerk
+around a curve. “We must be going nearly a mile a minute.”
+
+“That’s so.”
+
+A half-hour passed. Several stops were made, but few got off or on. The
+cars were about half filled.
+
+“Folks don’t like to travel in this kind of weather,” remarked Charley.
+
+“Well, I rather wish we had remained home, too,” was Joe’s answer. “I
+would rather take this trip when the sun is shining.”
+
+“Oh, so would I. But who would have thought it was going to get so
+foggy when we left?”
+
+Another half-hour went by. Charley began to get sleepy, and, leaning
+back his head, closed his eyes.
+
+Our hero sat idly turning the pages of a newspaper.
+
+Suddenly the train was checked in its rapid onward course.
+
+Charley and Joe were thrown forward out of their seat on to the back of
+the seat in front of them.
+
+Then came a crash in front and the jingle of glass.
+
+The rear end of the car ahead had come up and struck out the front end
+of the car they were in!
+
+A succession of bumps followed, a quiver, and all became still so far
+as the cars were concerned.
+
+The train had run into the rear end of another train ahead, and the
+crash was followed by a hundred cries on every side.
+
+“Help me out!”
+
+“My leg is broken!”
+
+“Take this seat off my chest!”
+
+“Get an ax and chop me loose!”
+
+The cries came principally from the cars ahead.
+
+“Are you hurt, Charley?” asked our hero as soon as he could make
+himself heard.
+
+“No; are you?”
+
+“Not a bit.”
+
+“Let us get out by the back way.”
+
+“All right.”
+
+They at once started to leave the car.
+
+Charley got out first.
+
+Joe lingered behind to help an old man who was lame.
+
+The old fellow could scarcely move, and our hero had quite a task
+getting him to a place of safety.
+
+Fortunately no one had been seriously hurt in the car they had occupied.
+
+The principal damage sustained was in the car ahead, next to the
+engine, and the rear car of the train ahead.
+
+The engine was almost a total wreck, and both the fireman and engineer
+were badly hurt.
+
+“My! but this is awful!” murmured Joe as he gazed on the scene.
+
+“Help wanted here!” shouted the conductor, as he rushed forward. “We
+must get out the helpless before the cars take fire!”
+
+“I’m at your service!” cried Joe promptly.
+
+“So am I,” added Charley, and a dozen others also volunteered.
+
+It was not long before those on the rear train were all gotten out, and
+then the crowd ran forward.
+
+The rear car of the front train was almost smashed to kindling wood,
+and it was already burning in several places.
+
+Those around had gotten out most of the sufferers, but could not get at
+those who remained.
+
+“Save me! oh, save me!”
+
+It was the cry of a despairing woman.
+
+The appeal came from the end of the car nearest to the wrecked engine.
+
+The woman was caught under several seats, and the fire was but a few
+feet away. Soon it would reach her and she would be burned where she
+lay.
+
+“I’m going in for her!” cried Joe bravely.
+
+“No! no! I’ll go in!” exclaimed the conductor of the train.
+
+He leaped into the battered car and began to crawl over the wreckage.
+
+Soon he was directly over the woman.
+
+The steam and smoke enveloped him like a thick cloud.
+
+With herculean efforts he hurled the broken car seats right and left.
+
+He raised them all excepting the last, which he could not budge.
+
+“An ax!” he yelled. “Bring me an ax!”
+
+Joe heard this cry and got the instrument and threw it toward him.
+
+Crack! Whack! Bang!
+
+The ax flew right and left.
+
+The under car seat was smashed in a jiffy.
+
+Then the conductor raised the woman in his arms.
+
+With quick leaps he sprang through the smoke and flames.
+
+The crowd was watching for him, and as he and his burden appeared they
+set up a shout.
+
+“Good for the conductor!”
+
+Our hero helped place the woman on a grassy bank, and here a doctor
+attended her and the other sufferers.
+
+Stirring times followed, and both Joe and Charley did many deeds to
+their credit.
+
+It was not until an hour later that a train backed down from Cleveland
+and took the dead and dying on board.
+
+Joe and Charley boarded this train and half an hour later found them at
+the depot in Cleveland.
+
+Here Joe’s business for his father was quickly transacted, and then he
+went off with Charley to visit the home of the latter’s uncle.
+
+The two spent a most enjoyable time at Charley’s relative’s house, but
+knowing their parents might be anxious concerning them, should they
+hear of the railroad smash-up, they returned to Lockport much earlier
+than had been their original intention.
+
+The news of the accident had preceded them, and Joe found his folks at
+the depot awaiting him.
+
+“I’m so glad you are safe, Joe!” cried his mother, and folded him to
+her breast.
+
+This was Joe’s first and last accident on a railroad, but many
+thrilling adventures on the wheel were still in store for him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE GOLD PIN.
+
+
+As we know, Dick Burns had been quite seriously injured on the road and
+during the time that Joe was playing ball had been unable to go out on
+his wheel.
+
+But the lad was now much better and, Joe’s bicycle being once more in
+good condition, the pair one day went out for a ride of several miles
+around Lockport.
+
+On their way back they passed along the road where Joe had had the
+dispute with Lemuel Akers, while both were on their wheels.
+
+Our hero told Dick of it and showed his chum the exact spot where Akers
+had been knocked down.
+
+“It served him right,” declared Dick. “If he don’t look out I’ll get
+into his wool.”
+
+“Oh, I’m able to take my own part,” laughed Joe.
+
+“I don’t mean on your account, but on Carrie’s. He bothers her with his
+attentions, and she despises him.”
+
+While Dick was speaking he was gazing at something bright, lying but a
+few feet away. Suddenly he made a dash forward and secured it.
+
+It was a gold pin shaped in the form of a new moon, with a pearl at the
+lower end.
+
+“Look, Joe!” he cried.
+
+“A gold pin, I declare! Dick, you are in luck.”
+
+“So I am.”
+
+The two boys examined the pin, and cleaned it off, and then Dick placed
+it on the lapel of his coat.
+
+“It’s worth a couple of dollars, at least,” said Joe.
+
+“I’ll make Carrie a present of it,” rejoined Dick. The manly boy
+thought a good deal of his sister.
+
+After this the boys went on, and a little later turned homeward.
+
+Several days went by, and nothing of special interest happened.
+
+But one day Carrie Burns came home in a flutter and sought out her
+brother without delay.
+
+“Oh! Dick!” she cried, “something strange happened to me to-day.”
+
+“What was it?”
+
+“I met Lemuel Akers, and he began to talk to me, and all of a sudden
+he got as white as a sheet and began to tremble from head to foot.”
+
+“What under the sun was the matter with him?”
+
+“I’m sure I don’t know.”
+
+“Must have been overcome by your beauty and that new dress,” laughed
+Dick good-naturedly.
+
+“Oh, don’t joke, Dick! I’m not in the humor for it. Lemuel was
+dreadfully frightened.”
+
+“But what at?”
+
+“I don’t know. He was talking and looking at that pin you found----”
+
+“What!”
+
+Dick, who was oiling his bicycle, let the can drop and sprang upright.
+
+“Oh! Dick! how you scared me!”
+
+“What did you say Lemuel Akers was doing?” demanded Dick Burns.
+
+“He was looking at that pin.”
+
+“Where is the pin now?”
+
+“Here,” and Carrie pointed to the velvet band around her dainty throat.
+
+“Carrie, let me have that pin again, will you?”
+
+“But, Dick, you gave it to me.”
+
+“I know I did, but I’m not going to have you wear something that is
+going to scare Lemuel Akers to death.”
+
+“I just wish it would scare him so he wouldn’t come near me again,”
+pouted Carrie.
+
+She wanted to keep the pin, but Dick would not listen to it, and at
+last she gave the article up.
+
+As soon as his wheel was oiled Dick rode straight to Simon Pepper’s
+jewelry store.
+
+The crabbed old watchmaker sat behind his bench, repairing several
+timepieces.
+
+Dick went at what was in his mind without beating about the bush.
+
+“Mr. Pepper, do you remember the articles stolen from your store?” he
+questioned.
+
+“O’ course I do,” growled Pepper. “Stuff don’t sell so fast in Lockport
+but what I have a chance to keep it on hand long enough to grow
+familiar with it.”
+
+“Then will you please examine this pin?”
+
+Simon Pepper snatched the pin from Dick’s hand eagerly.
+
+“It’s mine!” he burst out. “It’s one of three I had.”
+
+“Did you ever sell any of them?”
+
+“No. Where did you get this one?”
+
+“Found it on the road.”
+
+“Where?”
+
+“I’ll tell you some other time.”
+
+“But see here, Dick Burns----”
+
+“I won’t answer any questions now, Mr. Pepper. I found it on the road,
+and I think I can locate the thief.”
+
+And without waiting to see what Pepper might have to remark on this
+strange statement, Dick hurried from the shop.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+RACING A LOCOMOTIVE.
+
+
+From Simon Pepper’s shop Dick Burns hurried at once to Joe’s home.
+
+He found our hero weeding the garden, for the lad was always an
+industrious fellow when out of school.
+
+“Joe!”
+
+“Hullo, Dick! What now?”
+
+“I’ve found out who robbed Simon Pepper’s shop.”
+
+“Never!”
+
+Joe dropped the weed in his hand like a hot potato and came forward.
+
+“Who did the deed?”
+
+“Lemuel Akers.”
+
+“Really?”
+
+“He did--unless I am greatly mistaken.”
+
+“Tell me all about it,” went on Joe eagerly.
+
+“You know the pin I picked up on the road just where you had the fight
+with Lemuel?”
+
+“What of it?”
+
+“It is one of those stolen from old Pepper’s shop.”
+
+“And Lemuel dropped it, you think!” asked Joe.
+
+“Why not? You didn’t drop it.”
+
+“No, I’ll give my word I did not.”
+
+“It was lying just where you and he had the tussle.”
+
+“That is so.” Joe thought for a moment. “By George! I believe you are
+right, Dick!”
+
+“It would be just like Lemuel to try to get you into trouble.”
+
+“But my pocket-knife----”
+
+“He could easily get that at school.”
+
+“So he could.”
+
+“I believe if Lemuel’s home was searched we would find something,” went
+on Dick, after a pause.
+
+“It’s a wonder he didn’t sell the stuff or get it out of the way
+somehow.”
+
+“Maybe he did sell most of the stuff. He’s got a new bike. Where did he
+get the money for that?”
+
+“He says he saved it. But I never knew him to save a dollar.”
+
+“Nor I.”
+
+The two boys talked the matter over for half an hour.
+
+Then Mr. Johnson came home, and he and Joe went over with Dick to see
+Mr. Burns.
+
+The lawyer was much interested, for the time for Joe’s trial was close
+at hand. As we know, he intended to defend Joe, not only for the boy’s
+sake, but also on account of Dick.
+
+“It may be that Akers is guilty,” said Mr. Burns. “The thing is to
+prove it.”
+
+“We ought to watch Lemuel,” suggested Joe.
+
+“Perhaps by so doing you may learn of something to his disadvantage.”
+
+So it was arranged that an eye should be kept on Lemuel for a few days.
+
+On the following morning Joe saw Akers riding through town, bound
+toward Greenpoint.
+
+It was Saturday, and our hero instantly made up his mind to follow
+Lemuel all day, in the hope that something would turn up.
+
+He readily got permission to leave home, and was soon on his wheel,
+speeding after the tall boy.
+
+Akers rode directly to Greenpoint, and after having a luncheon there
+struck out to a point still further up the lake.
+
+It was a fine day, but the recent heavy rains had caused several
+washouts along the lakeside road.
+
+Mile after mile was passed, and at last the two reached Pemberton, at
+the head of the lake.
+
+Joe had been very careful to keep out of sight, so Lemuel Akers had no
+idea that he was being followed.
+
+At length Akers came to a halt in front of a shabby-looking second-hand
+store.
+
+He chained his bicycle to a post, and, looking carefully around, walked
+into the establishment.
+
+At once Joe’s suspicions were aroused. He left his machine at a store
+on the corner and hurried to the nearest window of the other store.
+
+The window was piled high with goods, but through an open space Joe saw
+Lemuel Akers talking earnestly to an old, round-shouldered Jew, who
+stood leaning on a back counter.
+
+Presently Lemuel brought a small package from his pocket and opened it.
+
+The package contained a watch chain, two watches and a couple of gold
+rings.
+
+The Jew took the articles, and, walking to the light, examined each one
+carefully.
+
+Then the pair began to talk earnestly, as if haggling about a price.
+
+At last the Jew wrote out several tickets and handed them and a roll of
+bills to Lemuel.
+
+The tall boy pocketed the bills and tickets. Then he looked out of the
+store to see if the coast was clear.
+
+Joe had just sufficient time to spring behind a billboard.
+
+In another minute Lemuel Akers came forth. He mounted his wheel and
+rode off at top speed.
+
+Our hero smiled to himself as he walked back to where he had left his
+own machine.
+
+The truth was plain enough now. Akers had robbed Simon Pepper’s shop
+and was disposing of the stolen goods by pawning them.
+
+Undoubtedly this process was safer than trying to sell the stolen
+articles.
+
+“I have got him where I want him now,” thought Joe. “Simon Pepper can
+identify his goods and the Jew can identify Lemuel, and, besides, if we
+manage things right, we can find those pawntickets on his person.”
+
+Thus reasoning, Joe left Pemberton not very far behind the tall boy.
+
+Lemuel now took a different route, leading up to a summer resort.
+
+Thinking it was no use to follow him longer, our hero struck out for
+home.
+
+The road in this section ran parallel to the track.
+
+Joe was feeling in prime condition, and he moved along at top speed.
+
+Presently a whistle sounded, and, looking back, Joe saw the local
+express in the distance.
+
+Hardly had he heard the whistle when there came a shriek from some
+distance ahead, where the road crossed the railroad tracks.
+
+Joe listened and heard a man crying loudly:
+
+“Save me from the train!”
+
+The man was on the track, lying down. He had been struck by paralysis
+and could not move.
+
+“What’s the matter?” yelled Joe.
+
+“Help! help!” was the only reply the sufferer could make.
+
+He was directly in the way of the oncoming train.
+
+Joe waited to hear no more, but began to push on the pedals with all of
+his might.
+
+Faster and faster he came down the smooth road, with the express
+thundering behind him.
+
+It was Joe’s first and last race with a locomotive, and a life hung in
+the balance.
+
+[Illustration: AN OLD MAN LAY HELPLESS ON THE TRACK.
+
+                                                    “Rival Bicyclists.”]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+LEMUEL AKERS’ GREAT PERIL.
+
+
+The race did not last long. It was a matter of less than half a minute.
+
+But that few seconds showed what Joe could do in the way of spurting.
+
+Down the road he came like a rocket, the wheels of his machine seeming
+to fairly fly through the air.
+
+The crossing was reached while the express was still a hundred and
+fifty feet off.
+
+Joe took a flying leap to the man’s side, leaving the bicycle to take
+care of itself.
+
+He caught the man in his arms and flung both himself and his burden
+into a near-by ditch, and then the express thundered by.
+
+For over a minute Joe was too weak to speak. The awful danger through
+which he had passed now dawned on him fully, and he arose trembling
+from head to foot.
+
+The man he had rescued was unconscious.
+
+Some people driving by had witnessed the thrilling scene and now came
+up.
+
+They were loud in their praise of our hero.
+
+The man was recognized as an old farmer living several miles away. He
+was subject to similar strokes to the present one, and rarely went out
+alone. He was taken home in a wagon, and the next day Joe received a
+warm letter from his wife, thanking him for his great service.
+
+As soon as Joe arrived at home he told his parents of what he had seen,
+and then called again on Mr. Burns.
+
+The lawyer was much pleased.
+
+“Joe, you ought to turn detective,” he said.
+
+“No, thanks,” smiled our hero. “I would rather be something else.”
+
+“I know that old Jew,” went on the lawyer. “To-morrow I am going to
+Pemberton and will interview him. I fancy you are as good as cleared.”
+
+“I am thankful for it,” responded Joe heartily.
+
+Our hero kept on the lookout for Lemuel Akers, but the bully did not
+turn up until after supper.
+
+That evening Joe and Dick went out on their wheels, visiting the spot
+where they had come near to riding into the river.
+
+The new iron bridge was now up, and they now had no difficulty in
+crossing the deep mountain stream.
+
+The chums spoke of Akers first, and, that subject exhausted, Dick told
+Joe of another bicycle meet soon to come off.
+
+“We must both enter the races,” he said. “I am going in for five miles
+and you must go in the two and one mile.”
+
+“I will,” said Joe.
+
+They wheeled on until they were about five miles from home. Then they
+came out on the top of a high hill, from which they could look in every
+direction.
+
+Here they rested, and while doing so Joe pointed to a strange light
+over in the direction of Lockport.
+
+“What light is that, Dick?” he asked.
+
+“I don’t know. Must be on the river.”
+
+“It is growing larger.”
+
+“So it is.”
+
+The two boys watched the light for a minute in silence. Then suddenly
+both gave a cry:
+
+“It’s a fire!”
+
+They were right, for a second later the flames shot skyward all in one
+rush.
+
+“Somebody’s house in Lockport!” cried Dick. “Joe, we must get back as
+soon as we can.”
+
+Our hero made no reply, but leaped on his wheel. Soon they were
+pedaling along rapidly.
+
+As they moved closer to Lockport the flames kept growing brighter and
+brighter, until the entire heavens were lit up.
+
+“It’s more than one house, that’s certain,” remarked Joe. “Who knows
+but what the entire business portion is doomed.”
+
+Joe said this because they could now make out that the fire was down
+in the vicinity of the stores and not over by the river, as they had
+originally supposed.
+
+Not long after this they could hear the crackling of the flames and the
+shouts of the local firemen, who were doing their best to subdue the
+conflagration.
+
+“It’s Rayley’s Row,” suddenly called Joe.
+
+“So it is, and every house in it is doomed,” replied Dick.
+
+Rayley’s Row consisted of six dwellings situated on the main street of
+Lockport, directly opposite the post office and main store.
+
+Only two of the houses in the row were occupied, the others having been
+vacant for some time.
+
+The vacant houses had caught first, having been most likely set on fire
+by tramps, who occasionally made their quarters there on the sly.
+
+“We must join the bucket brigade!” cried Joe.
+
+Lockport boasted of no fire engine, and the only way to put out a fire
+was by pouring buckets of water on it.
+
+Half a dozen lines with buckets were working from as many pumps and
+cisterns to the scene of the fire.
+
+Leaping from their machines, Joe and Dick joined one of the lines which
+was rather short of hands.
+
+In a second bucket after bucket came to each, to be passed to the next
+man or boy in the line.
+
+“Lively, boys, the fire is gaining!” suddenly shouted Carl Lathrop.
+
+“Form another line in the rear there!”
+
+“Why don’t somebody bring a few ladders?”
+
+“Are all the people out of the houses?” asked Charley Osborne.
+
+“Yes, long ago.”
+
+But this answer was a falsehood, as the next instant proved.
+
+At the top of one of the middle buildings appeared a tall figure,
+waving its arms wildly over its head.
+
+“For the love of heaven, won’t somebody save me?”
+
+Everybody stared in mute amazement at the person who uttered the appeal.
+
+It was Lemuel Akers!
+
+He was surrounded by flames, and death stared him in the face.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+JOE’S FATHER SAVES THE ENEMY.
+
+
+Joe was as much astonished as any one to see Lemuel Akers on the top of
+one of the middle of the burning buildings.
+
+How Lemuel had got there was a mystery, as the particular house in
+question was empty.
+
+“It’s Lemuel!” cried Dick Burns.
+
+“He is doomed!” ejaculated a bystander.
+
+“Can’t they get a ladder to him?” asked our hero quickly.
+
+Every one looked around. Several ladders were at hand, but none were
+long enough to reach the top of the house.
+
+Besides, the lower floors were a mass of flames, which shot out of the
+numerous windows in all directions.
+
+“He is doomed!” cried Larry Dare.
+
+“Nothing can save him!” put in Sam Anderson.
+
+“The foolish boy! What was he doing in that empty house?” queried Carl.
+
+And so the cries ran on.
+
+Lemuel Akers’ relatives were frantic and offered all sorts of rewards
+to any one who would go to the rescue.
+
+“I’ll save him!”
+
+It was Mr. Johnson who uttered the cry, and the bystanders looked at
+him in amazement.
+
+“You can’t do it, Johnson.”
+
+“You are crazy; no one can go into that building and get out alive.”
+
+“I don’t intend to go into the building,” said Mr. Johnson.
+
+“Then how will you save him?”
+
+“I’ll show you.”
+
+Mr. Johnson ran around until he found a light but strong washline.
+
+The end of this line he tied securely to the upper rung of the longest
+ladder to be had.
+
+Then he crossed the road to where stood a gigantic elm tree.
+
+The tree was fully sixty feet from the burning building, but its
+branches spread out in every direction.
+
+With an agility that would have done credit to a circus performer our
+hero’s father went up the trunk of the tree in double-quick order.
+
+Once among the branches he drew the ladder up after him.
+
+He kept on going up until he was on a branch on a level with the roof
+of the burning building.
+
+Then with caution he worked his way outward. It was a dangerous
+proceeding, as a slip from his resting place might have meant death.
+
+More than once the wind sent the smoke swirling about his head. At such
+times all he could do was to hold his breath and wait until the wind
+changed.
+
+“Save me! Save me!” screamed Lemuel Akers. He was on the point of
+swooning from terror.
+
+“Keep up your courage, Lemuel!” cried Mr. Johnson. “I am coming.”
+
+“Where are you? I can’t see you.”
+
+“Here in the tree.”
+
+“I can’t jump to the tree.”
+
+“Prepare to catch the end of the ladder I have brought up.”
+
+“Have you a ladder?” and for the first time Lemuel’s tone took on a bit
+of hope.
+
+“Yes. Watch for it.”
+
+Out and out crawled Mr. Johnson, until he was within twenty feet of the
+roof beyond.
+
+Then he brought the ladder up, resting the end against a smaller limb
+above.
+
+When the lower end was at hand he tied it fast, so that it might not
+slip away.
+
+“Now watch for it, Lemuel!” he cried.
+
+Then, calculating the distance as best he could, the man shoved the top
+end of the ladder forward.
+
+It fell just a little sideways, but the top overlapped the building
+gutter by two feet.
+
+“Now come over!” cried the man to the frightened prisoner.
+
+“I--I--can’t,” howled Lemuel. “I’ll fall to the ground.”
+
+“Nonsense! Crawl from rung to rung and you’ll be perfectly safe.”
+
+With his teeth chattering in his head, Lemuel Akers got down flat on
+his stomach and began to crawl at a snail’s pace toward the tree.
+
+“Hurry up, the roof is catching!” called out Mr. Johnson. “Quick!”
+
+Groaning and trembling, the big boy, more of a coward than ever,
+hurried himself, and half a minute later found himself safe in the tree.
+
+“Now you can get down all right, I reckon,” said our hero’s father
+coldly.
+
+Despite the excitement he had not forgotten how Lemuel had treated Joe.
+
+“Oh, I can get down all right enough,” was Akers’ reply. “I was going
+to jump into the tree, anyway.”
+
+And he turned his back on his rescuer and slid down to the ground.
+
+Mr. Johnson remained above to pull away the ladder that it might not be
+burned. Willing hands helped him bring the ladder down.
+
+“By jinks! but that was great!” cried Dick Burns, and he fairly hugged
+Joe. “Your father is a brave man.”
+
+“Lemuel don’t think so.”
+
+“Lemuel Akers is an ungrateful dog!” cried a man standing by. “He ought
+to be kicked out of the town.”
+
+“That’s what I say!” put in another.
+
+“He would have lost his life had it not been for Mr. Johnson.”
+
+“Who said that?” exclaimed Lemuel, pushing his way forward. “Saved
+my life! Not much! I was just going to jump into the tree, anyway! I
+ain’t so very thankful, because I don’t fancy having the father of a
+jailbird----”
+
+Lemuel got no further.
+
+There was a dangerous fire in Joe’s eyes, but before he could move on
+the tall boy Dick Burns stepped between.
+
+“Lem Akers, shut your mouth this instant! No, Joe, don’t whip him
+again, he isn’t worth it.”
+
+“See here, Dick Burns--” howled Lemuel.
+
+“I won’t listen to you,” went on Dick. “Do you want to know why?
+Because, while you insist on calling Joe a jailbird, I firmly believe
+you are the one who robbed Simon Pepper’s store.”
+
+The crowd heard the words and stood in surprise. Every eye was cast on
+Lemuel Akers, who turned deadly white.
+
+“Me?” he stammered. “Do you know what you are talking about, Dick
+Burns?”
+
+“I do. I firmly believe you are the thief. Maybe when Joe’s trial comes
+off, the public will be treated to a surprise.”
+
+What might have followed these words it is hard to say, for at that
+instant there came a strange cracking sound.
+
+“Run! run! the wall is falling!”
+
+Men and boys scattered in all directions.
+
+The warning came too late, however, for all, for the crowd had been too
+close to the fire.
+
+Down came a section of the row of dwellings. The burning timbers were
+hurled in all directions, and some of the pieces fell upon Dick Burns
+and Lemuel Akers, and they were stretched senseless upon the ground.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY.
+
+
+A cry of horror arose on every side, heard even above the crash of
+falling walls, as one after another of the doomed buildings went down.
+
+“Dick Burns and Lemuel Akers are under the timbers!”
+
+Then a rush was made, in spite of smoke and flames, and the two boys
+were dragged to a place of safety.
+
+A dash of cold water revived Dick, and he was soon on his feet again,
+suffering nothing more serious than a big lump on his forehead.
+
+Lemuel Akers had been hurt in the chest.
+
+“Call Dr. Hoymark, somebody! He is in the crowd!”
+
+The cry for the doctor soon brought that medical gentleman to Lemuel’s
+side.
+
+He directed that several men carry the big boy to the drug store. Here
+Lemuel was placed on a couch, and the doctor went to work on him,
+while a number of men, including Mr. Johnson and Simon Pepper, stood
+around.
+
+With a sharp pair of scissors the doctor cut open Lemuel’s shirt. Then
+he asked somebody to help him remove the boy’s coat and vest.
+
+Simon Pepper stepped forward, and the two went to work. Hardly were the
+garments removed than the watchmaker gave a gasp of astonishment.
+
+“Mine!”
+
+“What’s that?” asked Dr. Hoymark.
+
+“Look! look! my chains and my pins!” howled Simon Pepper.
+
+He seemed to have suddenly lost his reason. He was tearing open a
+package which had dropped from Lemuel Akers’ breast.
+
+“Your chains and pins!” said Lawyer Burns.
+
+“Yes! yes! Oh, the rascal! He must have been the thief, and not Joe
+Johnson!”
+
+“You have struck it, Pepper,” responded the lawyer quietly.
+
+Simon Pepper opened the package and spread the contents on a near-by
+counter. There was about half the amount stolen from the shop.
+
+“I will tell you where you can find nearly all the rest,” said Lawyer
+Burns.
+
+“Where?”
+
+The lawyer started to tell about the pawnbroker in the next town, when
+Lemuel came to his senses and sat up.
+
+“What--is--the--matter?” he asked slowly.
+
+And then, seeing Simon Pepper, his hand stole to his breast.
+
+“I have found you out!” howled the watchmaker. “You thief! And you
+tried to put it off on Joe Johnson!”
+
+He was even more angry than he had been at our hero, and with far
+greater reason.
+
+“Gently,” interposed Dr. Hoymark. “Remember he is suffering.”
+
+And then he thrust the jeweler aside until he could attend to Lemuel.
+In his dismay at being found out, the tall boy forgot all about his
+bruises. He let the doctor fix him up, and then, putting on his coat
+and vest again, sneaked off without a word of thanks to any one.
+
+“An ungrateful boy,” murmured the doctor.
+
+“And a thoroughly bad one,” added Lawyer Burns.
+
+The news soon spread and reached the ears of all the town people.
+
+Nearly every one said it was no surprise. All had believed Joe innocent
+from the start.
+
+It was thought that Lemuel had used the empty house as a place to hide
+the jewelry, and when the row caught fire had gone in to get the booty
+out.
+
+In the meanwhile the fire had burned itself out. Men and boys worked
+heroically, and nothing burned but the row, although quite a high wind
+was blowing.
+
+Much praise was given to Mr. Johnson for what he had done for Joe’s
+enemy.
+
+Lawyer Burns at once took steps toward having the case against Joe
+quashed. In this he was successful, and a couple of days later every
+one knew that Joe was free from the shadow which had been cast over his
+fair name.
+
+Then came a big surprise. Lemuel Akers had been arrested. No one had
+gone his bail, and he had been placed in the town jail, a primitive and
+rickety affair, which had once been a carpenter’s shop.
+
+From this place of confinement the thief had escaped, and no one knew
+where he had gone.
+
+The town authorities took the matter in hand, but without results.
+Lemuel was missing and that was as far as the single constable who did
+the work on the case could get.
+
+It is possible that his folks knew where he was, but if they did, they
+did not let on.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+A TUG OF WAR.
+
+
+“You can’t do it!”
+
+“We can!”
+
+“I’ll bet you boys a new baseball outfit you can’t!”
+
+“We’ll take you up, Captain Brown,” came from three boyish throats in
+chorus.
+
+“All right, lads, I’ll stick to my word. If you can pull Dan Risley,
+Mike Farrell and Peter Gibson over the line in a tug of war you shall
+have the best outfit to be bought in Greenpoint.”
+
+There was a shout, and three boys crowded around the speaker.
+
+“That outfit is as good as ours,” cried Sam Anderson, the leader of the
+trio.
+
+“Of course it is,” put in Joe, who was also present.
+
+“We’ll pull ’em over at the first word,” added Charley Osborne.
+
+Captain Brown of the Lockport hotel smiled. He thought that what the
+boys proposed to do was impossible.
+
+The fact of the matter was the captain and the three lads had been
+sitting on the hotel porch watching the carpenters on the building
+opposite trying to hoist up several heavy timbers. The timbers had
+remained on the ground, awaiting a machine hoist, and the boys had
+remarked that they could do better than the men.
+
+One word had brought on another, until a tug of war was spoken of
+between the three carpenters on one side and the three boys on the
+other.
+
+The boys had always wanted a new baseball outfit, and now they thought
+they saw a chance of winning it.
+
+When the carpenters came down from the building the contest was
+mentioned to them, and they readily agreed to take part whenever the
+boys were ready.
+
+Sam sounded the others and decided to bring matters to a head on the
+following Saturday afternoon at three o’clock.
+
+The tug of war between the three boys on one side and the three men on
+the other was to come off on the village green, and as it became noised
+about the town great preparations were made for the event.
+
+“We must win, that is all there is to it,” Joe declared over and over
+again.
+
+“It’s rather unequal, when you come to think of it,” remarked Charley.
+“Men ought to be stronger than boys.”
+
+“Not stronger than the members of the Lockport Baseball Club,” said our
+hero.
+
+From that time on until the memorable Saturday afternoon the boys did
+nothing but practice for the coming contest.
+
+They procured an old but stout rope, and going into the woods along the
+river tied one end to a young tree and then tried for hours at a time
+to drag the tree to the ground.
+
+This developed their muscles wonderfully.
+
+At last came the Saturday. The boys heard that the men were all ready
+for them.
+
+“They have been practicing too,” said Dick Burns, who was greatly
+interested in the contest. “I just heard it from Jake Foley.”
+
+“They won’t lose without a tough struggle, that’s certain,” returned
+Joe. “But don’t be worried. We must have confidence or we won’t win.”
+
+When the boys reached the village green half an hour before the contest
+was to come off they found it crowded with men, women, and young folks.
+
+“Here they come!” was the cry.
+
+“And here come the men,” was added a moment later, as the three
+carpenters hove in view.
+
+Captain Brown had provided a brand new rope. The line, as it is called,
+was marked off, and the boys took their position at one end and the men
+at the other.
+
+“Are you ready?” asked the captain.
+
+There were several seconds of silence.
+
+“Pull!” he yelled, and flung his hat on the ground to signal that the
+battle royal was on.
+
+What a straining and tugging there was! Both teams dropped into
+position and the knot in the rope remained where it had been placed,
+directly on the line.
+
+“Pull ’em over!” yelled Dick.
+
+“Don’t give ’em an inch!” added Carl Lathrop.
+
+“The boys are plucky!”
+
+“Yes, but the men are the stronger.”
+
+So the cries ran on.
+
+At the end of ten minutes--it seemed an age--it was noticed that the
+men were gaining. The knot was over to their side all of two inches.
+
+“What did I tell you?”
+
+“The boys are plucky, but they haven’t the weight.”
+
+Sam had his teeth shut hard. He heard the remarks, but paid no
+attention to them.
+
+Suddenly he uttered a slight hissing sound. It was the signal that one
+of their opponents was off his guard.
+
+Instantly the boys planted their feet back and gave a sudden and strong
+pull.
+
+Up came one carpenter after another, grunting as they did.
+
+In vain they tried to fall back into their places.
+
+It was too late, and in a second more the boys dragged them over the
+line with a rush.
+
+What a cheer went up!
+
+Even the carpenters joined in.
+
+“You did it, by the great horn spoon, you did it!” cried the captain.
+“And the baseball outfit is yours!”
+
+And it was.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+ANOTHER BALL GAME.
+
+
+A few days later the Rushers played another game of ball, this time
+with a nine from Greenpoint. As Dick Burns was now well again he played
+at second base, while Joe took his old position behind the home plate
+and Charley Osborne pitched as before.
+
+There was a bitter rivalry between Lockport and Greenpoint at the time,
+so far as baseball matters went.
+
+“We must win this game, sure,” said Captain Brown, who, since giving
+the baseball outfit, had taken a special interest in the club.
+
+“I’ll do my share,” said Charley.
+
+“So will I,” added Joe.
+
+A crowd came to witness the game.
+
+In the first inning Charley gave four boys bases on balls and the
+Greenpointers scored two runs.
+
+“That Lockport pitcher is no good,” said the crowd.
+
+In the second inning Charley pitched a wide ball over Joe’s head.
+
+Our hero did his best to get it, but it was beyond his reach.
+
+He ran like the wind, but before he could grab the sphere another run
+was scored for Greenpoint.
+
+Meanwhile the Rushers had but one run, made by Dick.
+
+Captain Brown came forward.
+
+“See here, you two must do better than this,” he said to Joe and
+Charley.
+
+“It’s the ball,” growled Charley. “Let me have a new ball.”
+
+“Nothing the matter with the ball.”
+
+“I say there is,” returned Charley stoutly.
+
+“Let me see it?”
+
+The captain took the ball and examined it.
+
+Then he called the umpire aside.
+
+“Look here, Clarkson, what do you think of this?” he said sharply.
+
+“What’s the matter?” asked the umpire.
+
+“Look at this ball.”
+
+The umpire did as requested.
+
+“Side heavy.”
+
+“Yes. And the cover has been resewed. This is a doctored ball.”
+
+“Don’t know but what you are right. Where did it come from?”
+
+“Don’t know. But the Greenpoint pitcher threw it to Charley Osborne
+when they went in.”
+
+“Humph! Let us investigate later on. Try a new ball.”
+
+The new ball came out, and several of the Greenpoint team were seen to
+exchange glances.
+
+“They know something about this,” said Charley to Joe.
+
+With a new ball Charley did better work. He sent in some wonderful
+curves, and our hero caught out seven men in rotation.
+
+At the end of the first half of the ninth inning the score stood nine
+to eleven in favor of the Greenpoint nine.
+
+Then the Rushers went to the bat.
+
+It was their last effort to win the game.
+
+“Wake up, boys!” cried Captain Brown.
+
+“Do your best, Dick!”
+
+Dick Burns was the first at the bat.
+
+He hit a safe one to center and got first.
+
+Charley followed, and also reached first on a bunt, while Dick went to
+second.
+
+The next boy struck out, and the following fellow did the same.
+
+Then our hero came to the bat.
+
+Dick was on third and Charley on second.
+
+“Now is the time for one of your long hits,” said the captain to Joe.
+
+The pitcher of the Greenpointers smiled to himself.
+
+He saw that Joe would hit the ball, and hit it hard, if it came where
+he wanted it.
+
+Consequently he resolved to pitch the ball as far as possible out of
+our hero’s reach without getting too many balls called.
+
+“One ball!”
+
+“One strike!”
+
+“Two balls!”
+
+“Three balls!”
+
+Joe understood the pitcher’s trick and got angry.
+
+“Give me something over the plate,” he said.
+
+“Shut up, I know what I am doing,” growled the Greenpoint youth.
+
+He remembered that the boy to bat next to Joe was a weak fellow who
+could be put out with ease.
+
+Along came another ball.
+
+It was a grounder, but our hero made up his mind to do the best he
+could with it.
+
+Bang! He hit the sphere with all the power in his arms.
+
+It was a red-hot liner, and it came straight for the pitcher’s head.
+
+The Greenpoint player knew better than to try to stop it.
+
+He attempted to get out of the way.
+
+The ball struck his arm and bounded far out over the foul line between
+home plate and first.
+
+In the meantime Joe was making time down to first.
+
+Dick came home as if a swarm of hornets were after him, and Charley
+followed.
+
+The Greenpoint catcher had run for the ball, thinking the pitcher would
+come up and cover home plate.
+
+But the pitcher did nothing of the sort. Instead he was nursing his
+arm, which felt as if it had been struck with a brick.
+
+Consequently Dick and Charley had nothing to fear when they came in.
+
+The catcher even when he did get the ball fumbled it and threw wild to
+second.
+
+Joe reached second and, seeing the ball sailing over the baseman’s
+head, bounded for third.
+
+The second baseman ran back for the ball and the center-fielder ran up.
+
+The two came into collision and down both went on top of the sphere.
+
+“Throw the ball, Gimp!”
+
+“Send it in, Hemingway!”
+
+Joe landed safely on third. His club was cheering wildly.
+
+“Come in, Joe, come in!”
+
+“They can’t get the ball up!”
+
+The catcher of the Greenpointers was getting frantic. He danced around
+the home plate like a madman.
+
+“Throw the ball! Throw the ball!” he screamed.
+
+But the ball did not come.
+
+The second baseman managed to get to his feet just as Joe started for
+home.
+
+Then up popped the center-fielder.
+
+Both looked at each other.
+
+Neither had the ball.
+
+They looked on the ground, but the sphere was not in sight.
+
+By this time every one present was yelling.
+
+“Where is the ball?”
+
+“Throw it in!”
+
+“What kind of a game is this, anyhow?”
+
+Joe was sprinting as hard as he could and was halfway home.
+
+Suddenly the center-fielder put his hand into his shirt, which had been
+torn open while struggling on the ground, and out came the ball.
+
+The crowd set up a groan.
+
+The Lockport players roared.
+
+Highly excited over the unexpected discovery he had made, the
+center-fielder let drive the ball for home.
+
+His aim was wild, and the ball flew about six feet over the catcher’s
+head.
+
+Joe dropped into a walk and sauntered up to the plate as coolly as if
+out for an evening stroll.
+
+His extraordinary run had won the game.
+
+Perhaps the Greenpoint team was not angry!
+
+The catcher scolded the pitcher, the second baseman howled at the
+catcher, and the center-fielder said the baseman had put the ball in
+his shirt.
+
+The game ended right there and the out-of-town club sneaked for their
+stage as fast as they were able.
+
+It was a long while before they heard the end of that game.
+
+Joe was praised for the way he had served the pitcher with the red-hot
+liner.
+
+“That’s right, make him pitch you a good ball,” said the captain.
+
+As the Greenpoint Club had been beaten nothing was said about the
+doctored ball.
+
+But in the future Charley Osborne kept his eyes open whenever he
+started to pitch with a strange or new ball.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+AN AMUSING WAY TO CATCH A SNEAK.
+
+
+The boys had built a shed at the ball grounds where they could put
+their street clothing and don their baseball outfit.
+
+One day a player named Washton came to the others with a long face.
+
+“See here, this is getting too thin,” he said.
+
+“What is getting too thin, Washton, your shirt?” and Captain Brown, who
+was a jolly sort of a chap, smiled at his little joke.
+
+“No, this stealing in the dressing-room.”
+
+“I didn’t know there was any stealing going on,” and the captain grew
+sober.
+
+“It don’t amount to a great deal, but it is enough to worry one,”
+went on Washton. “Last week I lost a silk handkerchief, and to-day my
+cardcase with six cents in stamps is gone.”
+
+“I had my handkerchief taken, too,” said another player.
+
+“I had three photographs stolen,” put in a third.
+
+“A new rule book I had is gone,” said Joe. “But I thought I had lost it
+on the street.”
+
+A watch was set for the sneak thief, but he could not be detected.
+
+A week passed and more small articles disappeared.
+
+Joe was one of the main sufferers, and he resolved to catch the guilty
+party if such a thing could be accomplished.
+
+He suspected a negro lad named Jeff Lumson, who was in the habit of
+hanging around the club on the watch to do errands and thus pick up a
+few cents.
+
+Joe set a watch over Jeff, but could not catch him in the act of
+stealing.
+
+Yet he became certain the colored boy was guilty.
+
+“I’ll fix him,” said our hero to Washton.
+
+“Hope you do,” grumbled the other player.
+
+On the following morning Joe went down to the fish market. Here he
+hunted around until he came across a chap who had live crabs to sell.
+
+Joe bought three of the smallest and toughest looking of the crabs and
+put them in a basket.
+
+He took the basket to the shed at the grounds and told Washton of his
+scheme.
+
+When the boys went on the field they left the crabs in their inside
+coat pockets.
+
+Half the game went by and in the excitement Joe forgot all about the
+crabs.
+
+Then the Lockport team came in to take their turn at the bat.
+
+Suddenly a loud yell was heard coming from the shed.
+
+“Come on!” shouted Joe. “I have the sneak!”
+
+The umpire called time, and all started forward.
+
+At the door to the shed they came upon Jeff the negro. He was a sight
+to behold. His hands were covered with blood, and to his right thumb
+hung two of the crabs.
+
+“Help! murder! Take dem off!” he shrieked.
+
+“Jeff, what are you doing with my crabs?” demanded Joe sternly.
+
+“Ain’t doin’ nuffin’, ’pon my word, Joe!” groaned the colored boy.
+“Take dem off before I’se bit to pieces!”
+
+“Do you own up that you are the sneak we’ve been looking for?” asked
+Washton.
+
+“Oh, let me go! I’se----”
+
+“Own up, or we’ll let the crabs have another innings at you!” said
+Charley Osborne.
+
+“I owns up; yes, I does!” groaned Jeff. “Let me go an’ I’ll gib you
+back all de stuff I took.”
+
+“All right,” said Joe.
+
+A bucket of water was handy, and this he held under each crab. As soon
+as the crustaceans saw their native element they dropped into the
+bucket.
+
+Jeff continued to groan, but no one sympathized with him.
+
+The stolen stuff was taken from him and then he was kicked out of the
+grounds by all hands.
+
+Some of the Lockport players thought he was a sort of Mascott for
+the club, but this proved to be false, for that day they beat their
+opponents, a heavy team, too, by fourteen to three.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+JOE’S TRIP TO BOSTON.
+
+
+The summer holidays were now at hand and Joe took again to his wheel,
+in company with Dick Burns.
+
+“Baseball is all well enough,” he said. “But wheeling is the better
+sport of the two after all.”
+
+“I am with you on that,” replied Dick. “I would rather ride than eat.”
+
+“That is, if you weren’t too hungry,” laughed Joe. “By the way, I
+wonder what has become of Lemuel Akers,” he went on.
+
+“I wonder, too. I rather fancy he will never return to Lockport,” said
+Dick.
+
+On the day after this talk Joe was hoeing corn in his father’s field,
+when Dick came over, accompanied by a tall and handsome young man.
+
+“Let me introduce my friend, Wilbur Rand, Joe,” he said.
+
+Joe instantly dropped the hoe and shook hands. Then he invited the pair
+to a bench under an apple tree.
+
+“I am glad to know you,” said Wilbur Rand. “I heard all about your
+bicycle victory at Elmwood.”
+
+Our hero saw Dick and his friend had come up on bicycles, and he asked
+Wilbur Rand how he liked to ride.
+
+Dick burst out laughing.
+
+“Wilbur is a professional rider, Joe,” he explained.
+
+“Oh, is that so?”
+
+“Yes, that is how I make my living,” replied Wilbur Rand. “And, by the
+way, Dick tells me you are more of a rider than most folks think.”
+
+“I can ride some,” replied Joe modestly.
+
+That evening the three went out together.
+
+Wilbur Rand had for several years been connected with the League
+of American Wheelmen, but during the last six months had become an
+out-and-out professional rider.
+
+He had traveled through the West and made a fair sum of money. He was
+now training for a race in Boston, and after that intended to go to
+Europe.
+
+Rand knew all the great riders personally, and Joe listened with
+breathless interest as he told of many races and how they were lost or
+won.
+
+“How I would like to have been in some of them!” murmured Joe, as his
+eyes glistened with anticipation.
+
+“You’ll get there,” said the professional rider.
+
+Wilbur Rand remained at Lockport for over a week.
+
+At the end of that time he paid a special visit to our hero’s home.
+
+“I want to get Joe to go to Boston with me,” he said to Mr. Johnson. “I
+will pay all of his expenses if you will let him go.”
+
+“What for?”
+
+“I want him to help me train. He is just the right kind of a companion.
+Dick Burns will go with us.”
+
+The matter was talked over for several hours, and then Mr. Johnson and
+his wife gave their consent.
+
+It was a bright, clear day when our hero left home. His friends came to
+the train to see him off.
+
+Joe enjoyed the trip very much, but he was still more pleased when the
+great Eastern city was reached.
+
+He took many rides around when not pacing Wilbur Rand. He went over to
+the Bunker Hill Monument and to a dozen other places of interest.
+
+At last came the time for the great race, and it found Wilbur Rand in
+prime condition.
+
+The races were held on the regular cycling field, and a very large
+crowd attended.
+
+Joe was deeply interested. He did all he could for Rand, and so did
+Dick Burns.
+
+When the race was finished Wilbur Rand was the winner of first place.
+
+Joe and Dick shouted themselves hoarse.
+
+Wilbur was much elated, and then and there he made Joe a present of
+fifty dollars for his services as a pacer and otherwise.
+
+Joe would not at first accept the gift, but Wilbur Rand insisted.
+
+“Take your wheel and the money, and get the best bicycle you can,” said
+Rand. “You yourself are cut out for a professional and a winner. Mark
+my words, we shall meet again, and on the track.”
+
+Dick and Joe saw Wilbur Rand off on the steamer bound for Europe, and
+then returned to Lockport.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+JOE’S BIG RACE.
+
+
+A couple of weeks later Joe procured his wheel, which was worth
+a hundred dollars. It was a racer, and weighed only nineteen and
+three-quarter pounds.
+
+Our hero was very proud of the machine.
+
+“To ride on it is like sailing along on wings,” he said to Dick. “Just
+watch me go!”
+
+And go he did, so rapidly that his chum was soon left far behind.
+
+Several weeks went on, and meanwhile Mr. Johnson was thrown out of work.
+
+This would not have been so bad, but he owed two hundred and fifty
+dollars on a note, and this was coming due.
+
+He had not the money to pay up, and the holder of the note refused to
+renew the same.
+
+He spoke of his trouble to his wife and to Joe.
+
+“If I can’t pay up I’ll be sued and sold out,” said Mr. Johnson.
+
+“If I could get the money on my bicycle I would sell that,” said Joe
+promptly.
+
+“No, I must have the whole amount,” replied his father.
+
+On the very day that the money would come due there was to be a series
+of races for cash prizes in Cleveland.
+
+Joe heard of the races through Dick, who advised him to enter for the
+five-mile event.
+
+“You might win something, Joe, and it would be a feather in your cap,”
+said Dick.
+
+“I haven’t the money to enter.”
+
+“It’s only ten dollars, and I’ll put it up.”
+
+“But the car fares?”
+
+“I’ll pay those, too. You can pay me back out of your winnings.”
+
+“But suppose I lose?”
+
+“You won’t lose, excepting through an accident, and in that case I’ll
+pocket my loss.”
+
+The proposition interested Joe greatly, and finally he agreed to take
+Dick up.
+
+Every night he went out for practice, hardening his muscles by long
+climbs up hill.
+
+He also took much exercise to develop his lung power, so that he could
+spurt.
+
+“I’ll win something, or else know the reason why,” he said to himself.
+
+By Dick’s request he said nothing of the races to his parents. Dick
+entered him, and when they went off Mr. Johnson paid no attention.
+
+Behind it all Joe wanted very much to win the first prize of two
+hundred dollars.
+
+“It would help father out of his difficulty, I feel sure,” he thought.
+“Oh, I must win; there are no two ways about it.”
+
+Joe knew that both his father and his mother were much worried over the
+note.
+
+His father had a hundred dollars, but that was not two hundred and
+fifty.
+
+Joe and Dick arrived at the race track several hours before the races.
+Joe was in prime condition and felt confident.
+
+As the pair rode around the grounds Dick suddenly called to our hero:
+
+“Did you see him?”
+
+“Who?”
+
+“Lemuel Akers.”
+
+“No! Where?”
+
+“Back of that grand stand.”
+
+“I saw nobody I know,” replied Joe. “You must be mistaken, Dick.”
+
+“I guess not.”
+
+Dick Burns hurried off, while Joe continued to exercise himself.
+
+Pretty soon Dick came back.
+
+“Well?”
+
+“He got away. But I am sure it was Lemuel.”
+
+It was now time for the first race to come off, and the track was
+cleared of all but those who were to take part.
+
+It was a mile event, and there were twelve entries.
+
+An old favorite won, and this, of course, put the crowd in good humor.
+
+Then came half a dozen other events.
+
+At last the five-mile race was called.
+
+“Now is your time, Joe,” said Dick. “Go in and win.”
+
+Dick accompanied Joe to the starting point that he might hold him up
+and shove him off at the shot.
+
+Ten young men entered the race, all much older, however, than Joe.
+
+“Who is that boy?” asked several.
+
+“Can it be possible that he expects to win?”
+
+“He’ll be left at the first mile.”
+
+Joe heard the unkind remarks, but he paid no attention to them.
+
+He set his teeth hard and looked to see that everything about his
+bicycle was in first-class order.
+
+If he lost, it should not be the fault of careless preparation.
+
+There was a slight delay, and then a really beautiful start was
+effected.
+
+“Go it, Barnstable!”
+
+“Show ’em what you can do, Royal!”
+
+At the end of the first lap the men were all in a bunch, with Joe a few
+yards behind them.
+
+“Didn’t I tell you the boy wouldn’t be in it?”
+
+“What do they want to let a mere lad go in a race like this for?”
+
+“Well, he’ll be out his entrance money, that’s certain.”
+
+“Don’t you mind, Joe,” cried Dick, and he was the only one in that
+great crowd to give our hero any encouragement.
+
+Joe smiled to himself when he heard Dick’s cry. He knew perfectly well
+what he was doing.
+
+All those men ahead could not keep up that burst of speed.
+
+At the third lap one began to lag behind, and Joe passed him.
+
+A mile was passed, and Joe was ahead of three of the racers.
+
+“The boy holds on pretty good!”
+
+“Maybe he’s getting his second wind.”
+
+Two miles, and Joe occupied fourth place.
+
+On and on went the racers. The end of the third mile found Joe fighting
+for third place.
+
+Another lap, and the place was his and Redding dropped behind.
+
+Then Joe tackled the second man, Clover. But Clover was an old rider,
+and was not to be beaten so easily. For a lap and a half he rushed on,
+just a wheel’s length ahead.
+
+“He can’t come it over Clover!”
+
+“Bob’s too much for him!”
+
+Then Joe began to spurt. The end of the race was not far off.
+
+Like a rocket he flashed up beside Clover; it was wheel and wheel for a
+hundred feet.
+
+Then Joe shot ahead.
+
+“The boy has passed him!”
+
+“Clover is out of it. There he goes down!”
+
+The cry was true. The spurt had caused Clover to faint.
+
+He fell, and his fall caused a general break-up behind him.
+
+But several riders escaped and went on, while the injured were carried
+as quickly as possible out of the way of further harm.
+
+In the meanwhile Joe kept on.
+
+Barnstable was a hundred feet ahead.
+
+Could he pass the leader?
+
+“I must do it! I must!”
+
+And so thinking, Joe increased his spurting.
+
+At the turn he happened to glance up and in a corner of the fence saw
+Lemuel Akers. But just then he gave no thought to his enemy.
+
+That race was everything to him.
+
+Another lap, and Barnstable’s lead was cut down nearly one-half.
+
+Suddenly the spectators gave a cry of amazement.
+
+Something had been thrown on the track, directly in front of our hero.
+
+Sizz! Bang!
+
+The object had exploded with a deafening report just as Joe was riding
+close beside it!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+JOE’S DOUBLE ESCAPE.
+
+
+For the moment every one at the track thought Joe had been killed or
+fatally injured.
+
+The bomb, or whatever it was, had gone off directly beside him.
+
+A shower of dirt flew in every direction, and this, mingling with the
+smoke, hid our hero from view.
+
+A cry of terror was followed by absolute silence. Every one looked
+dazed.
+
+Then, from the midst of what was meant to injure him badly, Joe rode
+unharmed.
+
+No, not entirely unharmed, for his clothing was torn and his left hand
+was bleeding.
+
+But such trifles counted for nothing in view of what he had gone
+through.
+
+“He’s out of it!”
+
+“I thought he would be blown to pieces!”
+
+“Who threw that thing on the track?”
+
+“The miscreant ought to be lynched.”
+
+Joe heard very few of the cries. Out of the awful situation he came
+with still but one purpose in his mind. He must win that race.
+
+It is such grit that marks the truly successful boy and man.
+
+Barnstable was fifty feet ahead, and they had just started on the last
+lap.
+
+Joe bent over his handle bar and spurted as he had never spurted before.
+
+The track seemed to fairly flash by under his feet. A hundred shouts
+rang in his ears.
+
+“He’s crawling up on Barnstable!”
+
+“Just see him spurt!”
+
+“He was fooling at the start.”
+
+“No, he wasn’t fooling, he was only saving his wind, and now he is
+going to show you what he can do.”
+
+The last speaker was Dick Burns, and he told the truth.
+
+Like a dart from a blowgun Joe came down the homestretch.
+
+Barnstable was but ten yards ahead--now eight--now five--now only three!
+
+Now they were side by side!
+
+And the tape but six yards off.
+
+“Beat him out, Barnstable!”
+
+“Go, Joe, go!” yelled Dick.
+
+Barnstable increased his speed--he was pedaling the race of his life.
+
+But Joe also increased. Then our hero fairly stood on his pedals and on
+he went, over the line, a winner by a yard!
+
+A silence--then a mighty shout that echoed and re-echoed on all sides.
+
+“The boy has won!”
+
+“Who is he?”
+
+“Joe Johnson, of Lockport.”
+
+“He’ll be a champion some day.”
+
+“So he will.”
+
+Eagerly the crowd surrounded Joe, anxious to make his acquaintance.
+
+But Dick got there first, and it was Dick who hurried Joe off to his
+dressing-room.
+
+“I knew you could do it, old man,” said Dick. “I am proud of you. Won’t
+this tickle Wilbur Rand when he hears of it!”
+
+“I couldn’t have done it on the old wheel, Dick. The new machine won
+that race.”
+
+“Nonsense! It was your endurance and pluck, Joe. Here, let me rub you
+down. The two hundred dollars are yours.”
+
+Joe’s eyes glistened in spite of his exhaustion.
+
+“Won’t father be pleased,” he murmured.
+
+“It will help him out on that mortgage.”
+
+“Exactly. When do I get my prize?”
+
+“The money will be presented this evening at the clubhouse at eight
+o’clock.”
+
+Then the two boys talked about the bomb.
+
+“It was Lemuel Akers threw it on the track, I am certain of it,” said
+Joe.
+
+“It’s just like him. So this is where he is holding out. We’ll have to
+report that fact at home.”
+
+“I fancy it won’t do much good. He’ll keep out of the way for awhile.”
+
+As soon as he was in condition Joe went outside again. Many were
+introduced to him, and soon he was a hail-fellow-well-met among the
+bicyclists.
+
+The track authorities had set two special detectives at work on the
+bomb business, and they promised to find Lemuel Akers, if such a thing
+was possible.
+
+Joe and Dick took supper with their new friends at the clubhouse. It
+was an elegant layout, and it is needless to say that our hero did full
+justice to what was set before him.
+
+Then came a few speeches, and finally Joe was presented with a purse
+containing two hundred dollars in gold.
+
+He thanked the club for the prize, making a speech that drew forth
+considerable applause, and half an hour later he and Dick withdrew in
+order to catch the last train that night back to Lockport.
+
+“I must stop at a house on one of these side streets for a minute,”
+said Dick. “You go down to the depot and wait for me will you?”
+
+“All right,” responded Joe.
+
+Dick turned a corner and Joe went on his way. It was rather dark, as
+there was no moon.
+
+The main street was torn up for a new sewer, so Joe took the back way
+to reach the railroad station. Unknown to him two men were close behind.
+
+“He’s got that two hundred in his breast pocket,” said one man to the
+other. “I saw him place it there.”
+
+“We must get it, Cuddy.”
+
+“Of course. Two hundred can’t be picked up easier.”
+
+So speaking the men followed Joe until a dark corner was reached.
+
+Then one of them ran up and stopped Joe.
+
+“Hold on, sonny.”
+
+“What do you want?” demanded our hero sharply.
+
+“I want that two hundred you have in your breast pocket.”
+
+“What!”
+
+“No nonsense now!” put in the second man. “Fork over and be quick about
+it!”
+
+As he spoke the man drew a pistol.
+
+Joe took in the situation on the instant.
+
+These men were footpads. They had seen him put the money away and now
+they meant to rob him.
+
+As quick as a flash he sprang back. Then on his machine hopped Joe, and
+pedaling off toward the depot. He had gone but a dozen yards when the
+man said:
+
+“Stop! or I’ll fire!”
+
+To this command and threat Joe paid no heed. He spun on, and a few
+seconds later reached the depot in safety.
+
+He at once sought a policeman and told his story. The two went back,
+but the footpads had taken warning and cleared out.
+
+“Next time I’ll be more careful how I show my money,” thought Joe.
+
+It was not long after this that Dick came along. The train also
+arrived, and both boys got aboard.
+
+“Well, Joe, you are a professional rider from to-day,” said Dick. “Your
+amateur days are over.”
+
+Joe and Dick talked over future prospects all the way to Lockport.
+
+It was very late when they arrived at their native town and they
+expected to see the station practically deserted.
+
+What was their surprise to find it lit up on all sides with Chinese
+lanterns, while in the square a big bonfire was blazing.
+
+“Hurrah for Joe Johnson!” sang out a hundred boys as our hero alighted.
+
+The news of his victory had preceded him and the town boys were proud
+of him.
+
+They had a little parade, some riding on their wheels and others
+marching on foot, and they escorted Joe home.
+
+Here Mr. Johnson and Joe’s mother and Paul could scarcely credit their
+ears.
+
+“Won two hundred dollars!” gasped his mother. “Oh, Joe!”
+
+“Yes, mother,” he said proudly. And then he turned to his father: “Use
+it toward that note, father.”
+
+And he held out the purse.
+
+Mr. Johnson gladly accepted a hundred and fifty dollars, which, with
+the hundred he had, would pay off the two hundred and fifty.
+
+“Keep the rest, Joe,” he said. “You more than deserve it.”
+
+“So he does,” put in Paul. “Ain’t I glad though, Joe,” he added warmly.
+
+“But you are out of work--” began Joe.
+
+“No, I am happy to say that I have struck another situation,” replied
+Mr. Johnson.
+
+“That’s good. Where?”
+
+“With Mr. Fordham, at the planing mill.”
+
+“Why, Mr. Akers worked there.”
+
+“I know it. He was discharged last week for carelessness. He broke
+several very valuable planing knives.”
+
+“The Akerses won’t like that,” said Joe soberly.
+
+“I presume not. But the position was vacant and I can’t afford to
+remain idle on their account, Joe.”
+
+“Certainly not, father,” replied Joe; and there the conversation
+dropped.
+
+But Joe could not help but wonder what effect the turn of affairs would
+have on Lemuel Akers and his family.
+
+He fancied, and rightly, too, that they would be very bitter over this
+unexpected change.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+THE MAD DOG.
+
+
+It was two evenings later that Joe arranged to go out bicycling with
+Carrie Burns, who had obtained a situation at the district school.
+
+He was to meet her on the road next day after school hours, and they
+were to take a trip over a road which was comparatively new to her.
+
+At the appointed time Joe looked for Carrie, but she did not put in an
+appearance.
+
+He waited half an hour, and then, mounting his wheel, pedaled slowly
+toward the schoolhouse situated on the outskirts, between Lockport and
+Greenpoint.
+
+He thought something had detained Carrie at the school, although he
+could not imagine what it could be.
+
+On the way Joe met Josiah Arkley. The old farmer was glad to see him.
+
+“I ain’t forgot how ye saved my henroost, Joe,” he said. “An’ I ain’t
+likely to forgit it. They tell me you air a downright good wheeler an’
+makin’ money. I wish ye success, I do, on my word.”
+
+“Thank you, Mr. Arkley,” said Joe, and then he rode on.
+
+As he neared the schoolhouse he heard a scream of terror and recognized
+Carrie Burns’ voice.
+
+Evidently Dick’s sister was in great peril.
+
+Without hesitation our hero shot forward on his wheel.
+
+“Help! Help!”
+
+“What’s the trouble?” cried Joe.
+
+“A mad dog! Save me!” shrieked pretty Carrie Burns.
+
+Leaping to the ground, Joe ran up the schoolhouse steps and burst open
+the door.
+
+A curious and thrilling sight met his gaze.
+
+There, on a high desk, stood Carrie Burns. She held a heavy ruler in
+her hand, with which she was trying to ward off the repeated attacks of
+a small but ferocious dog, who was leaping and snarling about her.
+
+That the dog was mad was evident. He was trying his best to catch her
+dainty foot between his gleaming teeth.
+
+“Oh! Joe, save me!”
+
+“I will, Carrie!”
+
+On hearing Joe’s voice the dog turned around and started to attack our
+hero.
+
+But Joe was too quick for him and sprang on a desk. Then he caught up a
+chair and whacked the dog over the back with it.
+
+The cur rolled over and over, letting out a wild howl as he did so.
+
+As he rolled Joe sprang down and caught him under the neck with one leg
+of the chair.
+
+Before he could free himself our hero had him by the tail.
+
+The schoolhouse was built on the bank of a wide stream, and the windows
+were open.
+
+Swinging the cur around his head, Joe hurled him through a window.
+
+He landed in the water with a splash and disappeared. But soon he came
+to the surface again, and then struck out for the opposite shore, a
+sadder if not a wiser dog.
+
+Then Joe ran to Carrie’s side. She had been fighting off the dog for
+nearly an hour and was completely exhausted.
+
+“Oh, Joe, you saved my life!” she murmured.
+
+“I would do as much for you every day, Carrie,” he replied quickly, and
+then blushed.
+
+It was some time later that the pair returned to Mr. Burns’ house.
+
+Here Joe was again thanked. Later on he and Carrie took their ride, and
+both enjoyed it very much, despite the mad-dog incident.
+
+The next few weeks were busy ones for Joe Johnson. He worked with his
+father, and during his spare time entered half a dozen races.
+
+Of these races he won four and received prizes to the amount of nearly
+a hundred dollars.
+
+With part of the money he bought his mother a new sewing machine,
+something she wished for very much.
+
+The rest of the money went into the bank.
+
+“I’ll not become a spendthrift, no matter how much I make,” said Joe to
+himself.
+
+That winter a bicycle carnival was arranged to take place in the city
+of Chicago.
+
+Joe was asked to enter, and he did so for a twenty-mile event.
+
+Among those who entered against him was Wilbur Rand, who had just come
+back from a fairly successful tour, on which he had been showing off
+the merits of a new high-geared bicycle.
+
+“What did I tell you, Joe?” cried Rand. “Didn’t I say we would meet
+again, and on the professional track?”
+
+“I am sorry we are to race against each other,” said Joe soberly. “I
+want to see you win, and I don’t want to lose.”
+
+“Just my idea of it, too. But we must both do our best. There must be
+no such thing as throwing the race into the other’s hands.”
+
+“Oh, I know that.”
+
+The carnival brought thousands of bicyclists to Chicago, and Joe made a
+great host of friends.
+
+“I think this will be the last long race I will enter,” he said to
+Dick, who came on just to see Joe and Rand race.
+
+“Why, Joe, what do you mean?”
+
+“After this I am going in for one, two, and three mile events. I think
+I may win a championship in one of those events.”
+
+“You can!” cried Dick. “You spurt so beautifully.”
+
+The races were very successful in every way, excepting that in one
+event three of the riders were badly hurt.
+
+On the second day of the carnival the twenty-mile event came off.
+
+There were sixteen entries, and at the call every man appeared.
+
+“You want to be careful of a pocket, Joe,” said Dick.
+
+“And look out for smash-ups,” put in Wilbur Rand. “The track is not
+just what it might be. That other mishap proves it.”
+
+It took some time to effect a good start. But at last they were off in
+a bunch.
+
+All went well for several miles. Three men dropped out, leaving
+thirteen on the track.
+
+An unlucky number, thought some people, and so it proved.
+
+Joe occupied fifth place, with Wilbur Rand just ahead of him.
+
+The three leaders were way ahead. But they were using themselves up,
+and must sooner or later drop behind.
+
+Then came a burst from behind, and Wilbur Rand and Joe were surrounded.
+
+Rand managed to escape, but Joe was “pocketed.”
+
+In vain he tried to break out. Three riders held him steadily in check.
+
+Joe was inclined to think he had been caught on purpose, but he could
+not prove it.
+
+He drove along steadily, watching every movement the others made.
+
+Half a lap was lost, and then our hero saw a fighting chance to clear
+himself.
+
+One of the bicyclists had turned out about a foot.
+
+This left a narrow space between the fellow and the man beside him.
+
+Like an arrow from a bow Joe made a mighty spurt.
+
+He shot through the opening like lightning, just grazing one of the men
+as he passed.
+
+Before the fellows could realize it he was ten yards in advance of them.
+
+“I’ll not get in such a pocket again,” he muttered to himself. “They
+mean to make me lose if they can.”
+
+By this time Wilbur Rand was close up to the three men ahead, who were
+now in a close bunch.
+
+These positions were held for over two miles. Then a cry rang out.
+
+The first man had slipped at one of the turns and gone down. Almost
+instantly the second and third riders came down on top of him.
+
+Before they could right themselves Wilbur Rand came up, with Joe close
+beside him.
+
+Rand was riding at a furious rate, and it looked as if he, too, must be
+thrown amid that mass of wounded humanity and twisted wheels.
+
+He tried to turn out and began to slip.
+
+But Joe caught him by the shoulder.
+
+“Steady!” he cried. “Steady! Now you are all right.”
+
+It was all done quicker than it can be told. But the crowd saw and
+applauded.
+
+Joe had saved Wilbur Rand from a dangerous fall, and perhaps from great
+injury.
+
+On went the two riders side by side.
+
+Then the wreck was cleared away and the others followed.
+
+Some began to spurt, and again Joe was hard pushed from behind, while
+Wilbur Rand led by a dozen yards.
+
+And now the last mile was on.
+
+Joe rode as he had never ridden before. Slowly but surely he crawled up
+to Wilbur Rand.
+
+“Here they come!”
+
+“It’s going to be a close race!”
+
+“Joe Johnson has caught up!”
+
+“See, they are wheel and wheel!”
+
+The shouts were deafening as Joe and Rand neared the end of the final
+lap.
+
+They were indeed side by side. Neither was a single inch ahead.
+
+A flash and the tape was crossed.
+
+A tie!
+
+“Hurrah for Joe Johnson!”
+
+“Three cheers for Wilbur Rand!”
+
+Wilbur Rand and Joe shook hands, while the crowd continued to cheer.
+
+“Shall we divide or race it over?” asked Rand.
+
+“Let us divide,” said Joe. “I would rather have it that way. We can be
+better friends.”
+
+“Just my way of thinking.”
+
+But Rand did not forget how Joe had saved him from falling.
+
+Before they separated he made Joe a present of a handsome diamond
+scarfpin.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+THE BOY ON THE DERRICK ARM.
+
+
+After this great race Joe was looked upon more as a professional
+bicycle rider than anything else.
+
+“He’ll make his mark, see if he don’t,” said his friends, and it looked
+as if this would be true.
+
+Business in Lockport was picking up. Several new factories had been
+started and the town was fast growing into a city.
+
+“Let us go into the bicycle business, father,” said Joe one day. “A
+store of that kind ought to pay.”
+
+The matter was talked over for several weeks, and finally Mr. Johnson
+decided to make the venture, and a store was opened, with Paul and Joe
+in charge. Mr. Johnson was not to give up his present place until the
+new venture was an assured success.
+
+This it speedily was, and Joe’s father resigned his position at the
+planing mill and enlarged the store, adding a general line of hardware
+and farming implements.
+
+The ground where the old Rayley’s Row had stood had been cleared of all
+the _débris_ left by the fire, and now the owners of the land were
+putting up a row of fine brick stores and dwellings which were destined
+to be the pride of the place.
+
+Late one afternoon Joe was passing the buildings where a great number
+of children were at play in the heaps of sand and on the piles of
+lumber which incumbered the street.
+
+Suddenly a boy on the top of one of the buildings let out a sharp cry
+of fear.
+
+Joe looked up and saw a sight that almost caused his heart to stop
+beating.
+
+The boy had in some way been caught on the end of the arm of a big
+derrick used for hoisting building material.
+
+The arm had swung around and the boy now hung over the street, forty
+feet below.
+
+He was caught only by his back, and should his coat rip away he would
+be hurled to his death.
+
+Taking in the situation at a glance, our hero ran up one ladder after
+another until the top of the building was reached.
+
+“Save Willie Gray!” screamed a dozen boys.
+
+They were trying to swing the arm of the derrick around, but could not.
+
+Some of the machinery would not work, and although Joe took a hand, the
+long arm with its human burden would not budge.
+
+Then Joe resolved to go to the boy’s rescue.
+
+Cautiously he climbed out on the long arm on hands and knees.
+
+It was a daring thing to attempt.
+
+Should Joe slip and lose his hold, he would fall forty feet to the
+pavement below.
+
+That would mean but one thing--death.
+
+Yet our hero did not falter. He was made of sterner stuff.
+
+Inch by inch he moved along, while a crowd gathered in the street below
+to watch him.
+
+“Be careful, young fellow!”
+
+The derrick arm wobbled a little, and this made the daring feat still
+more difficult.
+
+Joe was now within two feet of the boy, who was struggling madly to
+catch hold of the arm of the derrick.
+
+Rip! The boy’s coat tore away from where it was caught, and the youth
+gave a scream, thinking he was lost.
+
+With a quick leap our hero grabbed him by the collar just as he was
+dropping.
+
+“He has him!”
+
+“A close call for the youngster!”
+
+With his strong right arm Joe landed the boy on the top of the derrick
+arm. But the lad was too frightened to save himself even then and
+clutched at Joe.
+
+“Save me! Don’t leave me!” he moaned piteously.
+
+It was no easy matter for our hero to move backward with the frightened
+lad clinging to him. Yet back he went, inch by inch.
+
+The crowd held its breath, expecting each instant to see Joe and his
+charge come crashing to the pavement.
+
+But at last the top of the building was reached.
+
+The boy had fainted.
+
+He was quickly surrounded by a score of men and women, among the number
+being his mother.
+
+The thankful woman hugged the boy to her breast and then turned to
+thank Joe for his great service.
+
+But the brave youth was not to be found.
+
+He had slipped through the crowd and hurried down the several ladders
+to the street.
+
+The boys wondered what made Joe so sober that night and the next day.
+
+The local paper came out with a long account of the daring rescue, and
+our hero received great praise.
+
+For a long while after this matters moved along quietly with Joe.
+
+One day, while he was sitting on the porch, talking over bicycle races
+with a rider named Roy Crossley, Mr. Johnson came to him with a bulky
+envelope.
+
+“Suppose you deliver this letter for me on your wheel?” said Mr.
+Johnson. “It will give you something to do, and I would rather have it
+delivered by hand than trust it in the mails.”
+
+“Where is it to go?”
+
+“To a man named Franshaw, who lives up about two miles back of
+Independence. If I put it in the mails he may not get it for three or
+four days, and I want to see him to-morrow, if possible. Perhaps Roy
+would like to ride with you.”
+
+“Certainly; we were just wondering where we should go,” replied Roy
+Crossley.
+
+“We can’t go up there and back by dinner time, though,” put in Joe.
+
+“Then let us take our lunches and make a day of it,” suggested the
+other bicyclist.
+
+This was agreed upon; and half an hour later the two boys set off on
+their bicycles, each with a neat lunch in paper strapped to his handle
+bar, and Joe with the communication for Mr. Franshaw tucked away in a
+back pocket, under his blue sweater.
+
+The early morning had been somewhat misty, but now the sun came out
+strong for a day in the spring time. The roads were dry, but without
+dust, ideal in every way for the trip before them.
+
+“As we have the whole day before us, let us take it easy,” suggested
+our hero, as Roy started off at his usual high rate of speed.
+
+“Joe, you’re getting lazy!” laughed Roy. “Come on. I’ll race you to the
+turn.”
+
+But Joe would not race, and his chum was forced to slow down, much to
+his dissatisfaction. Slowly they rode on, and turned into the road
+leading to Independence.
+
+“I wish I’d had a drink before I left home,” remarked Joe presently.
+“I’m awfully thirsty.”
+
+“We can stop at the next house for water,” returned Roy, but before the
+next building was reached they espied an old-fashioned well situated in
+a rocky field to their right.
+
+“We’ll get a drink up there,” cried Joe. “Come on;” and coming to a
+halt, he dismounted and dragged his wheel up against the rail fence.
+Roy followed, and the pair were soon over the fence and into the field.
+They had quite some fun working the long well sweep, and when Roy was
+getting his drink out of the mossy bucket Joe playfully ducked his nose
+for him, and got a handful of water down his neck in consequence.
+
+“I like to drink out of an old well,” observed Roy, when they were once
+more on their journey. “The water seems to taste sweeter, especially
+if you drink right out of the bucket.”
+
+“Pure imagination,” laughed Joe, who was not of a poetical nature.
+“Might as well say you would like to eat a beefsteak right out of the
+frying pan.”
+
+A hamlet called Bytown had been passed, and now they came to a long
+hill, rather steep in places. Halfway up this Joe called a halt.
+
+“We can rest and then walk the remainder of the way,” he observed, and
+threw himself down on the sward, with his back against a huge stone.
+
+“Well, you are lazy to-day and no mistake,” said Roy, but he was
+compelled to follow his chum’s lead. “We haven’t so everlastingly far
+to go that you’ve got to save your wind in this fashion.”
+
+“It’s far enough, considering the hills.”
+
+“Who is this Mr. Franshaw we are to call on?”
+
+“He used to be a builder in Greenpoint. Some years ago he and my father
+did quite some work together.”
+
+“Your father said it was important he should get the letter at once.”
+
+“Yes. It’s about some building contract, I believe.” Joe put his hand
+back to see if the letter was safe. “Father thinks-- Oh, Roy, it’s
+gone!”
+
+“Gone? What?”
+
+“The letter! I’ve dropped it somewhere!”
+
+In the excitement Joe leaped to his feet and gazed about him and down
+along the road as far as his eye could reach. The envelope was not in
+sight.
+
+“We’ll have to go back,” he said, with a disturbed look on his face.
+“Hurry up.”
+
+“You must have dropped it when we got that drink,” said Roy. “I hope
+you get it back.”
+
+“I must get it back. I think there was a plan in it which cost the
+owner fifty or a hundred dollars,” returned Joe.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+A LETTER AND A SNAKE.
+
+
+Our hero was already on his bicycle, and Roy had no cause to complain
+about the time made in returning to the vicinity of the old well. As
+a matter of fact, Joe fairly flew down the highway and he had all he
+could do to keep up with him.
+
+The spot reached, they dismounted and commenced a search which lasted
+nearly an hour, covering every foot of ground for fifty feet around.
+They even lit a bit of paper and threw it into the well, that they
+might see if the envelope had dropped into the water. It was all of no
+avail; the communication could not be found.
+
+Joe walked back to the road with a very white face. What would his
+father say to this?
+
+“It’s too bad,” said Roy Crossley. “Let us ride back slowly to where we
+rested. It may be lying somewhere on the way.”
+
+“I ought to have put it into an inside pocket, Roy. Father cautioned
+me to do that, but I forgot.”
+
+On this point Roy could give no comfort, and in silence they turned
+forward again, our hero on one side of the road and his chum on the
+other.
+
+They had almost reached the spot where they had been resting when Roy
+uttered a shout.
+
+“There is the letter, over by that rock!”
+
+He pointed to one side. Both looked in that direction, and an instant
+later gave a yell of fright.
+
+“A snake! And on the letter!”
+
+It was true. A brown reptile nearly three feet long had come out
+of his hole to sun himself, and his head rested directly upon the
+communication.
+
+Both boys rode past and then dismounted. As they did this the snake
+gave an angry hiss which made them retreat in double-quick time. Joe
+picked up a stone and Roy a stick.
+
+For a moment the reptile held its ground, and the lads thought they
+would have a lively and decidedly unwelcome fight. But as the stick and
+stone were raised the snake turned and like a flash disappeared behind
+a rock.
+
+Joe’s heart beat loudly as he picked up the letter, and he brushed it
+off with great care and even then handled it gingerly. Both boys were
+so preoccupied that they did not notice the presence of a little girl
+who had walked up.
+
+“Why didn’t you kill the snake?” she remarked. “I wouldn’t have let him
+get away from me.”
+
+“It’s easy to talk,” returned Roy coldly. “A snake is not a nice thing
+to handle.”
+
+“Huh! My little brother killed one yesterday twice as long as that,”
+she replied disdainfully.
+
+“Can’t you tell us how far we are from Mr. Franshaw’s house?” asked
+Joe, to change the subject.
+
+The girl told them, glancing curiously at the letter in the meantime.
+“Is that for him?” she questioned.
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Well, if you want to catch him this morning you’ll have to hurry. I
+just came from his place and I heard him tell his man that he was going
+to start for Northfield in a little while, and by what he said I guess
+he’s going to stay there a couple of days.”
+
+“Then we will have to hurry,” replied Joe. “I am much obliged to you
+for the information,” he added.
+
+“I’ve never been out Northfield way,” observed Roy, as they pedaled
+along as rapidly as possible. “Do you know anything about the roads?”
+
+“I was up there once in a wagon,” replied our hero. “I hope we catch
+Mr. Franshaw before he starts.”
+
+They went through the town of Independence at a rapid rate--so rapid
+Roy was afraid they might be arrested for fast riding--and struck out
+on the side road leading to Mr. Franshaw’s residence. The two miles
+were quickly covered, and, dismounting, Joe hurried up to a side door
+and knocked loudly. There was no response.
+
+A man who had seen them from a near-by field approached. He proved to
+be one of Mr. Franshaw’s hired men.
+
+“Yes, Mr. Franshaw left for Northfield about half an hour ago,” he
+said, in reply to Joe’s question.
+
+“On foot?”
+
+“Oh, no, he had a team with some furniture he sold to a man in
+Northfield. You see since his wife died he ain’t got no use for the
+stuff, and he’s thinking of selling out altogether and moving down to
+Greenpoint.”
+
+“Perhaps we can catch him if he has a heavy load,” remarked Roy. “Let’s
+try it.”
+
+“We can catch him at Northfield anyway; that is, if the roads are good
+enough for bicycling,” returned our hero. “Which way did he go?”
+
+“Right straight down this road till you come to the creek,” said the
+hired man. “Then take the road to the left until you get around the
+hill, and then take the road to the right. You might catch him if you
+are good riders.”
+
+“And the roads?”
+
+“Well, they ain’t the best, but I reckon they’re good enough. You may
+have to do a bit of walking here and there.”
+
+“Come ahead!” cried Joe, and in a second more he was off, with Roy in
+his wake. A turn of the road and Mr. Franshaw’s residence was left
+behind, and they were started on a journey destined to be full of
+excitement and surprises.
+
+On and on they sped as fast as the country road would admit, gradually
+climbing the hill to the other side. At the creek they took the turn
+the man had mentioned and pedaled along a smooth way lined on either
+side with dense woods.
+
+“Hullo, look!” cried Roy, who had spurted ahead. “A gypsy camp!”
+
+“Sure enough, Roy! They have four wagons, and look, at least a dozen
+horses.”
+
+“Rather a tough-looking crowd, ain’t they?”
+
+Joe agreed that they were. There were six men visible, lying around a
+flat rock, smoking and playing cards. Besides the men there were two
+women, who were washing clothes and cooking, and half a dozen ragged
+and dirty children. The children shouted at them, but they paid no
+attention as they swept past.
+
+“How folks can live in that style gets me,” commented Roy. “Ugh! those
+men looked like the brigands of Italy you see pictured in books.”
+
+“I guess they are not above stealing chickens, and even horses,”
+replied Joe. “But hurry up, for if I am not mistaken it is going to
+rain before night. Don’t you notice how close it is and how glary the
+sunshine is getting?”
+
+The second turn was reached and before them was a straight stretch of a
+mile and a half. Looking far ahead they saw a wagon lumbering along at
+a lively gait.
+
+“That must be Mr. Franshaw’s,” ejaculated Joe. “Hurry up and see!”
+
+He spurted and so did Roy, and the wagon was reached before it had
+proceeded a quarter of a mile. True enough it belonged to the man they
+were seeking, who sat on the seat calmly smoking his brier root pipe.
+
+“Hullo, Joe Johnson, what are you doing away up here?” he cried, as the
+youth came alongside. “A pretty long and rough ride from your home.”
+
+“I’ve got a letter for you,” answered our hero. “Here it is. I was at
+your home and your man directed me how I could follow you.”
+
+The team was stopped and the communication examined.
+
+“I’m mighty glad you came after me,” said Mr. Franshaw. “I wouldn’t
+want to have missed this for a good deal. I was going to stay at
+Northfield until to-morrow, but I’ll come back as soon as this
+furniture is delivered. You can tell your father I’ll be on hand and
+will take up with that offer if Mr. Burns indorses the notes.”
+
+“Yes, sir.”
+
+“And if you boys want to get home with dry backs I advise you to hurry
+up. It’s going to storm in a little while,” added the man.
+
+He whipped up his team and left them where they had dismounted. Joe was
+about to follow Roy in mounting when he suddenly changed his mind.
+
+“I’m as hungry as a bear,” he said. “Let us tackle our lunch first.
+That will rest us and we can make home in a jiffy, for it’s more down
+hill than up.”
+
+Roy, too, was hungry, and readily agreed to his companion’s plan. They
+found a convenient resting place, near a spring where they could obtain
+water, and soon both were munching the sandwiches and cake with which
+their folks had provided them.
+
+It felt so agreeable to rest and to eat that they spent a much longer
+time in the spot than at first anticipated, and it was not until a low
+rumble of distant thunder startled them that they both leaped to their
+feet.
+
+“The storm is coming up!” cried Roy. “See how black the sky is getting!
+Come on, there’s not a minute to waste!”
+
+He crammed the last of his cake into his mouth and leaped into the
+saddle. Joe did the same, and away they went in the direction of the
+creek and the gypsy camp beyond.
+
+Scarcely a quarter of a mile had been covered when it began to rain.
+At first the drops came down scatteringly, but soon a perfect deluge
+seemed to descend upon them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+THE GYPSY CAMP.
+
+
+“We must find shelter or we’ll be soaked to the skin,” said Roy
+Crossley. “Do you see any kind of a building?”
+
+“No,” said Joe. “Not a blessed thing in sight. But if I remember
+rightly there was an old barn near that gypsy camp.”
+
+They passed the creek and made the turn toward the gypsy’s squatting
+place, but no barn came to view. By this time their sweaters were
+pretty wet and the rain was running over their caps and down their
+necks in anything but a comfortable fashion.
+
+“My gracious, but this is rough,” commented our hero dismally. “If we
+could----”
+
+He got no further, for his front wheel had slipped on the wet road.
+There was a twist and a wobble, and over he went. Roy, directly behind,
+had to leap off to save himself.
+
+“Are you hurt?” he asked anxiously, as Joe arose painfully.
+
+“Yes, I scraped my knee,” gasped our hero. “Riding home with it is
+going to be no picnic.”
+
+“Are you sure you can ride?”
+
+“I’ll try, anyway.”
+
+Joe mounted and went a short distance--bringing them into sight of the
+gypsy’s camp. He gave a groan and dropped rather than stepped to the
+road.
+
+“I can’t do it. If that barn was handy----”
+
+“Here’s the gypsy camp,” began Roy. “I suppose they’ll take us in if we
+pay them.”
+
+“I don’t want to go among those dirty creatures,” said Joe, with a
+shrug of disgust. “They might--here come three of the men now!”
+
+He was right. Through the rain the gypsies had seen his mishap, and now
+they came forward with various offers of assistance.
+
+“Come in the wagon out o’ the wet,” said one, who appeared to be
+something of a leader. “We’ll give you some liniment for your knee.”
+
+The boys did not wish to accept, but the three gypsies insisted, and
+against their will they went along, Roy trundling the machines and the
+gypsy leader catching Joe by the arm to make walking on the injured
+limb easier.
+
+The wagon into which they were invited was large enough to hold a score
+of persons, but it had such an untidy look and smelled so strongly of
+musty bedding and tobacco smoke it nearly made both of the boys sick.
+
+“You can put the bicycles under the wagon,” said one of the gypsies.
+“Here is the medicine for your knee,” and he brought out a black bottle
+which smelled of turpentine.
+
+Two of the gypsies entered the wagon with the boys, while the third
+hurried off to join the men in another shelter. Somewhat against
+his wishes, our hero’s knee was bathed. The stuff put on burned
+considerably, and it is doubtful if it did any good. While the bathing
+was going on the gypsies talked loudly and continuously, and after it
+was over one of the men offered both a drink from a pocket flask, which
+they promptly declined.
+
+“Wont drink, eh,” said the man. “You don’t know what is good.” He gave
+a coarse laugh. “Where are you from?”
+
+Roy told them, and the two men exchanged glances. It was still raining
+as hard as ever, and the second man proposed that they play a game of
+cards to while away the time.
+
+“I don’t know how to play,” said Roy.
+
+“Then I’ll tell your fortunes,” said the gypsy, and immediately set to
+work, telling them of a dozen wonderful things which were to happen to
+both of them in the course of their lives.
+
+“You are both going to meet with a loss soon,” said the man presently.
+“Two bicycle riders from Greenpoint are going to play a dirty trick on
+you. One of the men is a tall fellow, with a squint in his eye; the
+other is short and stout. Look out for them, they are your enemies.”
+
+The man spoke earnestly, looking them squarely in the face as he
+addressed them. Had they believed at all in fortune telling they might
+have imagined that there was some truth in his statement. As it was
+their faces took on a perplexed look, at which the man winked at his
+companion on the sly.
+
+An hour or more was spent in the wagon, and then the sudden shower
+began to let up. Joe had been rubbing his knee and now declared himself
+able to proceed. But the gypsies insisted that they wait until the road
+had dried up a bit.
+
+“There is no use to hurry,” said one. “We are not charging you for
+staying here.”
+
+“No, nor for telling our fortunes,” put in the other. “Make yourselves
+at home until the sun shines again.”
+
+“I’m afraid it won’t shine much before it sets,” said Roy. “If your
+knee will permit, we’ll start now,” he added to Joe. “As it is, we
+won’t get home until dark.”
+
+He was close to the back flap, and throwing it aside, leaped out.
+Our hero followed more carefully, and both looked around for their
+bicycles. The machines were gone!
+
+“What did you do with our wheels?” asked Roy of the gypsies.
+
+“Why, you placed ’em under the wagon,” was the reply.
+
+“They are gone,” burst out Joe. “Did that other man take them away?”
+
+“I guess not. I’ll ask him.”
+
+The gypsy called the leader who had left them when they had entered the
+wagon. He shook his head, declaring he had not seen the bicycles since
+Roy had placed them under the wagon.
+
+“Well, some one has taken them, sure,” said our hero, and he eyed the
+gypsies sharply.
+
+“Ah, I have it!” cried the man who had told their fortunes. “Did I not
+read it on the cards! Those two bicyclists from Greenpoint, the man
+with the squint and the short, stout man. They have----”
+
+“Do you think I believe any such stuff!” interrupted Joe. “Not much!
+You have our wheels, and I want you to produce them.”
+
+At this all of the gypsies who had gathered around looked dark.
+
+“We are not thieves, young fellow,” said the leader. “It was your
+business to look after your machines, not ours. Now clear out about
+your business. We did all we could for you and it’s small thanks we are
+getting for it.”
+
+The gypsies looked so angry and aggressive that both lads were forced
+to retreat. But they only went as far as the road, as the gypsies made
+no attempt to follow them.
+
+“This is a nice fix,” grumbled Roy. “They have our wheels, I’m certain
+of that.”
+
+“So am I. The question is, how are we going to get our bicycles back?”
+
+“I’m sure I don’t know. Where do you suppose they have put them?”
+
+“Perhaps in their tent, or in one of the other wagons.”
+
+“They won’t dare keep them there.”
+
+“Of course not. At the first chance they’ll ride off on them and sell
+them in some city, after changing their looks and numbers.”
+
+“What had we better do?”
+
+“Pretend to go away, and then watch them,” said Joe.
+
+This advice was followed out. They walked along the road around a bend,
+then dove into the woods, coming up in the rear of the gypsy camp.
+
+For some time they saw nothing unusual. The gypsies came up to the
+front of their tent and commenced to eat around a newly made campfire.
+The meal over one of the members began to harness a pair of horses to
+one of the wagons.
+
+“That wagon must have our machines in it,” cried Roy. “I wonder where
+he is going?”
+
+“Hark,” said our hero. “I hear a horse and wagon on the road!”
+
+“Run out and see if it is any one who will help us,” cried his chum,
+and Joe ran out--to behold Mr. Franshaw, swinging along with his empty
+wagon at a lively gait.
+
+The youth drove into the woods again, but by running at a rate which
+hurt his knee not a little, he managed to reach the bend below the camp
+just as Mr. Franshaw was passing.
+
+The man was stopped and matters were explained to him. Of course he
+readily agreed to help the boys all he could.
+
+“But they are a dozen to us three,” he added.
+
+“So we must use strategy.”
+
+The gypsy wagon was now coming out on the road. It was a boxlike
+affair, without a cover, and in the bottom rested some objects covered
+with a piece of canvas.
+
+“He’s got your machines in that sure,” said Mr. Franshaw. “Go for your
+friend and we’ll follow that wagon.”
+
+Joe ran into the woods once more and summoned Roy. Both boys secreted
+themselves in Mr. Franshaw’s turnout, which was then headed in the
+direction the gypsy’s wagon had taken.
+
+Scarcely half a mile was covered when the gypsy discovered that he was
+being pursued. He whipped his horse, and a lively race began, which for
+a long while was a case of nip-and-tuck.
+
+“We are gaining!” cried Roy at last. “Can’t you make him go faster, Mr.
+Franshaw?”
+
+“I’ll try. Go it, Billy! Git alang there!”
+
+And Billy did “git alang,” until the gypsy’s turnout was all but
+overhauled. Seeing he could not escape, the man slowed down.
+
+“We want our wheels,” demanded Joe sharply.
+
+“Who are you talkin’ to?” returned the fellow with a blank look, but
+without ceremony Roy leaped from one wagon to the other, and pulled the
+cover from the two bicycles.
+
+“Hang the luck!” growled the gypsy and sprang into the road. But Mr.
+Franshaw was after him, and struck him with the butt of his whip.
+Then Joe and Roy leaped in, and after a tough struggle, lasting fully
+ten minutes, the gypsy was overpowered, made to enter Mr. Franshaw’s
+wagon and bound up with some bits of harness. Roy remained with the
+prisoner, while Joe undertook the task of driving the prisoner’s
+turnout; and in this fashion they journeyed to the nearest police
+station.
+
+Here the gypsy was held for trial, and in the meantime some officers
+went after the other gypsies, but failed to catch them, as they had
+left for parts unknown.
+
+It was late when the two boys arrived home to tell their story, and the
+excitement through which they had passed was sufficient to last them
+for some time to come.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+AN ACCIDENT ON THE WHEEL.
+
+
+The days flew by, and business at the Johnsons’ store continued to grow
+better and better, until the entire family felt that they were on the
+high road to prosperity.
+
+One day Dan Huxley, who played third base on the Rushers, came to our
+hero and asked him to take a drive out in the country to an uncle’s
+farm for some potatoes.
+
+The day was a fine one and both boys felt in excellent spirits.
+
+Just on the outskirts of the city they ran across Ralph Riley, a
+bicycle rider from Greenpoint, who was spinning along on his wheel.
+
+“I’ll race you!” cried Ralph.
+
+“Done,” said Dan, and the race started.
+
+The horse was pulling a pretty heavy wagon, so he could not go very
+fast.
+
+Yet for a quarter of a mile it was nip-and-tuck between the horse and
+the machine.
+
+Then Ralph drew ahead.
+
+“You’re beat!” he cried, as he went on.
+
+“I would like to have my machine and race you,” said Joe with a laugh.
+
+Just ahead of them the road made a turn around a clump of trees.
+
+On and on sped Ralph, with the wagon not far behind him.
+
+As he went around the curve his bicycle tipped too far in and he
+slipped down on the ground.
+
+“Whoa!” yelled Dan, as he tried to bring his horse to a stand.
+
+He did not wish to run over Ralph, who had rolled over on his back.
+
+Scarcely had Dan spoken when Joe let out a cry of horror. A spanking
+team attached to a heavy coach was coming from the other direction. The
+coach was whirling along at a lively gait, with the driver more than
+half asleep on the box.
+
+“Stop! Stop!” cried Joe, but the sleepy coachman paid no attention.
+
+“Stop!” yelled Dan. “Ralph, get up!”
+
+Realizing his danger, Ralph Riley attempted to do so. But his leg
+caught in his machine and down he went again.
+
+On and on came the heavy coach. In another moment the horses and all
+would pass directly over the prostrate boy’s body.
+
+“Stop your team!” screamed our hero, and leaped to the ground.
+
+As quick as lightning he sprang over Ralph’s body and caught the
+nearest horse of the oncoming team by the bridle.
+
+It was a daring thing to do, for should he fall under the horses, Joe
+would be as bad off, if not worse, than his companion.
+
+Yet he did not mean to fall.
+
+The coach swerved to one side and the driver was almost shaken from his
+lofty seat.
+
+This aroused him and he clutched at the reins.
+
+“Phat are yez up to?” he bawled out.
+
+“Stop your team!” cried our hero. “Don’t you see where you are going?”
+
+“Be hivins!” howled the driver, and pulled up the team in double-quick
+order.
+
+Another step and Ralph would have been trampled under foot.
+
+As it was, one of the horses stepped on one wheel of the bicycle,
+bending several of the steel spokes.
+
+Ralph crawled to his feet and got out of the way as best he could.
+
+Then Joe let go the horse’s head.
+
+“Are ye hurted?” asked the driver anxiously of Ralph.
+
+“No, but my machine is,” replied the boy.
+
+“Oi can’t help that! Git up, Billy! Git up, Nora!”
+
+He attempted to go on with his team. But Dan drew up across the road so
+he could not pass.
+
+“You settle for that broken wheel first,” said Dan.
+
+“To be sure he will!” cried Ralph.
+
+“It’s not me fault,” said the driver of the coach stubbornly.
+
+“It is.”
+
+“’Tis not. Now let me go past!”
+
+Dan would not budge, and added to this Ralph ran up in front of the
+coach, and so did Joe.
+
+At once the Irishman grew angry and reached for his long whip.
+
+“Oi’ll show yez a thing or two!” he howled, and made a crack at Ralph
+with his whip, but the boy leaped out of reach.
+
+“Here, don’t you hit my friend!” cried Joe.
+
+In his pocket he had an apple, which was large and rather hard.
+
+He pulled out the apple, and, just as the coachman made another strike
+at Ralph, he let drive.
+
+The coachman received the apple in one eye, and he let out a terrific
+yell and dropped his whip, which Ralph promptly picked up.
+
+Swish! Swish!
+
+Around the driver’s legs wound the whip end, and the Irishman danced on
+the seat with pain.
+
+“There, now, we’ll call it square!” cried Ralph, as he threw the whip
+into the empty coach. “Now go about your business, and see you don’t
+drive over anybody else.”
+
+The coachman was frantic, but before he could do anything Dan and Joe
+drove past him, and Ralph got on his battered wheel and rode on.
+
+At a crossroads they came to a blacksmith shop, and here Ralph stopped
+off to have the spokes of his wheel straightened.
+
+Joe and Dan continued on their way until the latter’s uncle’s place
+was reached. Here the two boys had a right royal time in the orchards,
+picking and eating fruit.
+
+Dan’s uncle was with them, and while out in the orchard was called off
+for a little while by a neighbor.
+
+“There’s a fine apple tree,” said Dan. “Supposing I climb up and shake
+down a few of those choice apples?”
+
+“Go ahead, and do as you please,” said our hero. “I must confess, as
+far as I am concerned, I don’t want much more fruit.”
+
+“Pretty full, eh?”
+
+“Exactly.”
+
+Nevertheless, Joe gave Dan a boost up the tree.
+
+There were some particularly fine apples on the topmost limbs, and
+these Dan was bent on securing.
+
+Up and up he went, while our hero took it easy on the grass at the foot
+of the tree.
+
+Dan had just reached the top of the tree and secured some choice fruit,
+when a wild cry rang out, coming from the direction of the farmhouse.
+
+“Help! Samuel, come here, quick!”
+
+It was Dan’s aunt calling for her husband.
+
+“What’s up?” yelled Dan from the tree.
+
+“Your aunt wants help!” cried Joe. “I’ll go up and see what’s wrong.”
+
+And away he bounded as fast as his swift feet would carry him.
+
+As he came in sight of the farmhouse a thrilling sight met his gaze.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+A TRAMP’S DOWNFALL.
+
+
+Dan’s aunt was having a desperate fight with a burly tramp, who, after
+being given a hearty dinner, had insisted on having money.
+
+Mrs. Parks--that was the lady’s name--refused to give him the cash, and
+at once the tramp grew abusive.
+
+The fellow was none other than Henderson, who had helped assault Joe at
+the old coal mine.
+
+“I’ll help myself,” he said, and tried to go into the house.
+
+Then the lady screamed for help.
+
+“Ain’t no use ter call,” said the tramp. “Yer husband is up the road a
+good step. I seed him go away.”
+
+“You wretch! Get out of the house,” stormed Mrs. Parks.
+
+“I will--when I have what I want,” was the cool reply of the knight of
+the road.
+
+He thought with only a woman around he could do as he pleased.
+
+He tried to throw the lady into a closet, and a desperate struggle
+ensued.
+
+In the midst of it Joe arrived and took in the situation at a glance.
+
+Our hero looked around for some weapon and espied a sickle lying on the
+cistern-top.
+
+“Let up there!” he cried, as he picked up the sickle. “Let up, or I’ll
+cut you with this!”
+
+And he flourished the sickle dangerously close to the tramp’s head.
+
+Henderson turned pale under his dirt when he saw our hero with the
+sharp-edged sickle.
+
+“Don’t cut me!” he shrieked.
+
+“Then let up on Mrs. Parks,” shouted Joe.
+
+“I wasn’t doin’ nuthin’.”
+
+“I know better.”
+
+“He wanted to rob us,” put in the lady.
+
+“Never stole a thing in my life,” said the tramp. “Ter tell the truth,
+I’m a bit queer at times in me upper story.” And he tapped his forehead.
+
+Our hero saw he was lying.
+
+“Hold him until my husband gets back,” suggested Mrs. Parks.
+
+“I will.”
+
+On hearing this the tramp attempted to run away, but Joe promptly
+tripped him up.
+
+At this moment Dan came running up, having come down out of the apple
+tree as fast as possible.
+
+Now he saw another against him, Henderson was more anxious than ever to
+get away.
+
+“Lemme go, I am out o’ me head,” he moaned. “De hot sun affected me.”
+
+“Did it?” said Joe.
+
+As he spoke he leaped back of the tramp and kicked the cover off of the
+cistern.
+
+Dan saw what he was up to and smiled.
+
+“Yes, me head is affected by the heat,” went on the tramp.
+
+“Then we’ll cool it for you,” cried Joe.
+
+At a signal to Dan to help him he rushed at the dirty fellow.
+
+The lads caught the fellow by the collar and dragged him to the cistern.
+
+In vain Henderson struggled to free himself. They backed him to the
+opening and gave him a sudden push.
+
+He sat down, doubled up like a jackknife and disappeared with a loud
+splash.
+
+“Whow! whow! Let me out! I’ll be drowned.”
+
+In this fashion the tramp spluttered as soon as he could get his head
+above water.
+
+When he stood up the cistern water was just up to his neck and he
+chattered from cold.
+
+“Stay in there and cool off,” cried Joe.
+
+And he and Dan kept watch over him while Mrs. Parks went off for Mr.
+Parks.
+
+The tramp begged piteously to be allowed his liberty, but the boys were
+obdurate.
+
+In a little while Mr. Parks came running in.
+
+“One of them pesky tramps, eh,” he said. “All right, I’ll fix him!” He
+ran to the barn and got his whip.
+
+“Now climb out and I’ll give you something to make you hustle,” he said.
+
+Henderson lost no time in trying to get out of the cistern.
+
+As soon as his shoulders showed above ground old Parks began to thrash
+him with the whip. He kept this up until the tramp was ready to run off.
+
+“Now, clear out,” he exclaimed. “And if I ever see you around this way
+again I’ll give you a dose of buckshot.”
+
+Henderson did not wait to reply.
+
+Dripping wet and aching in every limb he hobbled off.
+
+None of those present ever saw him again.
+
+Mrs. Parks was much pleased with what Joe had done, and she presented
+our hero with a choice basket of fruit to take home.
+
+An hour later found Dan and our hero on the way back to Lockport.
+
+At the blacksmith shop they learned that Ralph had long since gone away
+on his wheel, which had been made as good as ever.
+
+After this adventure with the coach and with the tramp nothing of
+especial interest happened for a long while to come.
+
+Jee kept training himself on his wheel while Mr. Johnson and Paul ran
+the store and matters went very well all around.
+
+Joe would have gone into the store with his brother, but the whole
+family realized that it was the lad’s riding and acquaintanceship with
+wheelmen that brought in a good share of the trade. Even while on the
+road Joe managed to sell several bicycles and all at a good profit.
+
+And thus the fall passed and winter came on, and with the advent
+of snow came the time when Joe Johnson had an adventure he never
+forgot--an adventure as novel as it was thrilling.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+LOST IN THE SNOW.
+
+
+“Joe! Joe!” called Mrs. Johnson, as she entered her son’s bedroom,
+about twelve o’clock one bitter cold night in January. “Wake up. Your
+father is very sick.”
+
+“What’s the matter? Father sick?” asked the boy, springing up.
+
+“Yes, he has taken cold, and complains of heart cramps. I do not know
+what to do. I have tried several things, but none of them seem to do
+any good.”
+
+“Shall I go for Dr. Weston?”
+
+“It would be best to have him. But it is awful cold out, and is snowing
+heavily.”
+
+“I won’t mind that, mother. I’ll hurry on my clothes and start at once.”
+
+“Do, then. Tell the doctor he must come at once.”
+
+“I will.”
+
+Having dressed himself in an incredibly short time, Joe put on his
+overcoat, wound a tippet around his neck and head, donned his hat and
+left the house. Dr. Weston lived on the other side of Lockport, and he
+had a mile’s journey to reach the residence.
+
+As we have said, it was bitter cold. The lazy, generous flakes whirled
+down to such a degree that nothing could be seen twenty feet ahead.
+Undaunted by this, however, our hero started courageously, and was soon
+well on his way, leaving behind him dog-trot footprints in the eight
+inches of snow that covered the ground.
+
+But running as fast as he could it was full half an hour before he
+reached the doctor’s residence. He was thoroughly tired by the run, and
+when he rang the bell he sat down on the piazza railing to rest himself.
+
+“Who’s there?” came through the speaking tube, in the familiar voice of
+the doctor.
+
+“It is I--Joe Johnson,” replied the boy.
+
+“What do you want?”
+
+“My father is very sick. Mother would like you to come and attend him
+at once.”
+
+“What is the matter?”
+
+“I don’t know exactly. He has a heavy cold, and complains of cramps in
+the heart.”
+
+“Then I’ll hurry as fast as I can. If you will wait ten minutes you
+can ride back with me in my cutter.”
+
+Now, undoubtedly, this would have been the best thing for Joe to do.
+But, like many another person in a similar situation, ten minutes
+seemed to him like an age.
+
+“No, doctor, I am much obliged,” he replied. “I’ll start at once and
+let mother know that you are coming.”
+
+“Very well, then,” answered Dr. Weston.
+
+Having rested himself, our hero started on the return. It was much
+colder now than it had been, and the soft flakes had given way to fine,
+hard particles which the wind drove piercingly into his face. The snow,
+too, lay deeper, and rendered his progress slow. In half an hour he
+found himself, thoroughly exhausted, only halfway home.
+
+“I wish I had accepted the doctor’s invitation to ride,” he said to
+himself, as he stood still for a moment, trying to catch his breath. “I
+don’t seem to be returning as fast as I came. I wonder if the doctor is
+behind me.”
+
+Joe listened attentively, but no sound broke the stillness.
+Occasionally a blast of wind swept through the trees, but that was all.
+
+“It won’t do for me to stand here,” he continued. “I would freeze to
+death in five minutes,” and he staggered on through the blinding snow.
+
+But to walk through nearly a foot of snow is no easy task, and with
+the cutting north wind blowing directly in the face it is well-nigh
+impossible.
+
+Our hero grew colder and colder; it seemed to him that he had never
+been so cold before. Several times he missed the way, too, and once,
+when he stumbled, he rolled down into a hollow.
+
+This frightened him, and he tried his best to see ahead and keep in the
+right way.
+
+But now a drowsy sensation began to steal over him, and instead of
+being cold his body began to become of a sluggish warmth. His head sank
+down on his breast, and he felt, oh! so sleepy.
+
+“I’ll sit down under the tree over there and rest for a moment,” he
+thought, and started to carry out his idea.
+
+Before he could take three steps he sank to the ground. He attempted
+to rise, but found he had not the strength to do so. The awful truth
+rushed to his mind:
+
+“I am to die in the snow!”
+
+Those were the last words Joe uttered.
+
+The wind blew and the snow came down faster than ever. It took but a
+few moments to cover him, and then no one would have suspected that
+under that unbroken sheet of white lay a human form.
+
+It was nearly a quarter of an hour after Joe had summoned him that
+Dr. Weston entered the cutter which his colored boy brought from the
+stable, and started on his way to the Johnson home.
+
+He was well wrapped up in an immense fur overcoat and a couple of
+buffalo robes, and nothing but a small part of his face could be seen
+as he grasped the reins and guided his faithful horse, a magnificent
+bay, down the side street and out of the town.
+
+“Come, Hero, get up,” he called. “We must hurry, or we may be too late.
+Faster.”
+
+And Hero, being an intelligent horse, understood what was said and
+began to increase his speed.
+
+Soon they had left the town and were well on the road. Here the fury of
+the snowstorm was more felt, and the doctor, knowing that Hero would
+keep his gait, rode without urging, settled himself deep in the robes,
+and was soon lost in reverie.
+
+His meditations were interrupted by the sudden stop of Hero. He was
+thrown forward against the dashboard, and the shock brought him to his
+full senses in an instant.
+
+“Hello! What is the matter now?” he said to himself. “I wish I could
+see ahead.”
+
+But that was impossible. The blinding snow hid everything from view.
+
+“It’s no use. I must go on. Get up, Hero.”
+
+Hero would not get up. He only pawed the ground with his hoofs, and
+gave a loud snort.
+
+“Something must be the matter,” the doctor continued. “Perhaps there is
+something the matter with the harness. I suppose I will have to jump
+out and see.”
+
+Dr. Weston crawled from the robes, and carried out his idea. A careful
+examination convinced him that the entire running gear and all was in
+perfect order.
+
+“I can’t see what the matter is. Can’t you tell me, Hero?”
+
+Hero gave another snort. Then, greatly to the doctor’s surprise, pawed
+the snow carefully away in front of him, and lowering his head, grasped
+a dark object by his teeth and raised it up. Dr. Weston uttered an
+exclamation:
+
+“Great Cæsar! It’s Joe Johnson!”
+
+In the twinkle of an eye he placed the boy’s form in the cutter. Then
+Hero was set to the quickest of trots. The animal, in five minutes,
+brought the cutter to the Johnson’s cottage.
+
+Here Joe was taken in, and after hard work resuscitated. Mr. Johnson’s
+sickness proved but slight, and the doctor turned all his attention to
+the half-frozen boy.
+
+It took a week for our hero to recover. When he came downstairs for the
+first time, and sat by the fire, he said:
+
+“It was queer, mother: just like going to sleep.”
+
+“It was a sleep, Joe,” replied his mother; and as she turned away she
+continued to herself: “And had it not been for intelligent Hero it
+would have been the sleep of death!”
+
+The winter passed and spring came on, and with the warmer weather Joe’s
+thoughts turned again to bicycling. An international contest had been
+arranged and this our hero determined to enter.
+
+Yet before this great race something occurred which showed more than
+anything else what a great rate of speed Joe could make on his wheel
+when the occasion demanded.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+SAVING THE TOWN.
+
+
+For some time past the forest fires had been raging heavily in the
+dense growth to the northwest of Lockport, but as they were kept pretty
+fully under control but little apprehension was felt for the safety of
+the town.
+
+Guards were stationed at various points both night and day, and they
+gave the alarm whenever the fire gained in one direction or another.
+
+“It is a lucky thing that no fire has started in Huffman’s woods,”
+thought Joe as he rode home one evening after an unusually hard day’s
+training on his wheel. “If it did, and the wind should be just right,
+Greenpoint would suffer a good deal, unless every one was on guard and
+ready to fight it off. It’s a pity it doesn’t rain. Only half an inch
+of water in seven weeks is not enough to count.”
+
+On the day following it grew unusually close and sultry. There was a
+breeze from the north, too, but it carried with it nothing that was in
+the slightest degree refreshing.
+
+“I must take a spin along the Forest Turnpike,” said our hero to
+himself. “It ought to be cool along there and down in the Hollow. I
+can’t stand it to wheel home along the old dusty road in this awful
+heat.”
+
+So, instead of turning to the west, he started off almost northwest,
+and was soon speeding along under the shade of the immense pine and
+other trees through which the Forest Turnpike had been cut four years
+previous.
+
+When he reached the upper end of the turnpike, where the Hollow road
+branched off, he found a nice shady spot, near a tiny brook, and,
+dismounting, threw himself on the grass and pine boughs to rest.
+
+He was over nine miles from home, and it was growing late, but he could
+not resist the temptation to linger and take it easy.
+
+“The coolest spot in the country, I really believe,” he thought lazily,
+as he threw his head and closed his tired eyes. “What a difference
+between this and that hot store of ours.”
+
+Joe lay quiet for perhaps ten minutes, then he gave a long
+sniff--another--and sprang up with a start.
+
+What was that odor which was coming faintly to him from the woods on
+the other side of the brook? It smelled suspiciously like burning pine!
+
+He waited another moment and then gave several more sniffs. He was
+right, it was something burning!
+
+“Huffman’s woods must be on fire!” he thought, and immediately a
+worried look crossed his handsome face. He thoroughly understood the
+danger which the numerous forest fires brought.
+
+The wind began to blow through the trees and brush, and in another
+minute the smoke came drifting overhead and through the upper branches.
+Joe reached for his machine and started to mount.
+
+“I might as well be getting along,” he said, half, aloud. “There is
+no telling how far that fire, wherever it is, may reach before it is
+checked, it’s so awful hot to-day. If only the rain----”
+
+Joe got no further. There was a strange roaring which reached him from
+a distance, followed by a sudden rush of wind, and then--he could
+scarcely believe his eyes--several smoking and burning brands fell near
+him and further on up the road.
+
+“The fire is coming this way just as fast as ever it can,” he gasped.
+“My stars! Look at that! The whole woods will be afire in another ten
+minutes! I must go and give warning before it is too late!”
+
+In a twinkle he was on his machine and riding along the Hollow road
+at topmost speed, his form bent over the handles and every ounce of
+muscle put on the flying pedals. His hat blew off, but he paid no heed
+to this, his one thought being to outride the oncoming fire and warn
+Greenpoint people of their danger.
+
+Ahead of him was a steep hill, six hundred feet long, and up this he
+pushed desperately, the smoke and burning brands sweeping down on
+all sides of him. Once a hot cinder fell upon his neck, burning him
+severely and causing him to utter a sharp cry of pain. But not a second
+was lost; he knew only too well the value of every iota of time.
+
+And now the burning brands, flying hither and thither, set fire to
+the brush on either side of the narrow road, and it was as if Joe was
+riding through two walls of flames. The air grew stifling and he could
+scarcely breathe.
+
+“If I was only to the top of the hill I could coast down the other
+side,” he muttered to himself. “But it’s a good two hundred feet off
+yet, and I don’t seem to be getting ahead at all.”
+
+He endeavored to increase his speed, and the very desperateness of the
+situation lent him extra strength. Up and up he went, avoiding the
+rough stones as best he could, and yet not daring to turn much from a
+direct course.
+
+Joe had almost gained the top of the hill when there came a furious
+blast of wind, filled with smoke and burning branches and leaves, that
+struck him directly in the face. Our hero bent back involuntarily and
+his bicycle came very nearly to a standstill. It looked as if he would
+be stopped at the very moment when the worst of the danger was left
+behind.
+
+But the brave youth recovered, and with one hand over his face and the
+other guiding his machine, he pushed manfully on until the crown of the
+hill was reached.
+
+Here the smoke and flying branches were nearly as thick as below, but
+the awful up-hill struggle was past and ahead lay a downward road
+stretching for over a mile.
+
+With a vigorous push on the pedals Joe started himself on the down
+grade and then placed both feet on the rests.
+
+Like a rocket the bicycle shot down the incline, gathering speed at
+every yard. To Joe it was as if they were fairly flying past the trees
+and rocks which lined the way. More than once the machine struck a
+small stone and bounded upward, lifting him several inches out of the
+saddle. But he held on to the handles, feeling that it was not only a
+ride to save his own life, but also the lives of others.
+
+When the foot of the hill was reached Joe found that he had left the
+smoke and the burning brands in his rear.
+
+But the wind was still blowing his way--the way Greenpoint lay--and
+he realized that the fire was traveling fast behind him. Before the
+bicycle could slacken its speed he had his feet again on the pedals and
+was once more pushing on, determined to give the villagers all the time
+possible in which to save themselves and their goods.
+
+At last, almost exhausted from his spurting, he came in sight of the
+first house, that in which Ralph Riley lived. The family were just
+gathering about the supper-table as he spun up to the horse block.
+
+“The woods are on fire! Look out for yourselves!” he yelled, and,
+assured that his cry had been heard and understood, he dashed on.
+
+Next came Deacon Quilby’s home--a low, rambling place, surrounded by an
+old-fashioned hedge. The deacon sat on the piazza, looking over a new
+hymn.
+
+“Hullo! ridin’ most amazin’ fast--” he began when Joe cut him short.
+
+“Huffman’s woods are in flames and the fire is coming this way. You had
+better get out, and quick, too, if you want to save your lives!”
+
+And before the deacon could utter a word in reply he was out of sight
+again.
+
+In three minutes more Greenpoint was reached, and, riding up and down
+the main street, Joe gave the alarm, which quickly spread. Men, women,
+and children came running from every house.
+
+It did not take long to decide upon what to do. The possibilities of a
+fire reaching the place had often been discussed, and plans had been
+laid to fit all kinds of invasions.
+
+“We’ll blow up the Bleekler cottage and Boren’s stable and the
+trees behind it,” said Seth Axtell, one of the leading merchants of
+Greenpoint. “And some of you can plow up as much of Cass’ field as you
+can. That ought to help us break the line of fire.”
+
+“It will,” said one of the hotel-keepers. “And if the Jackson cottage
+and stable are gutted with water I think we’ll escape, although some
+one ought to be on guard at every building with tubs of water and a wet
+blanket.”
+
+The men and boys went to work with a will, Joe among the rest. The
+women and girls, and even the children, did all they could to help,
+and the next half-hour was a busy one.
+
+The buildings mentioned were blown up with gunpowder and dynamite, and
+all of the _débris_ carried off, and a half-dozen plows soon turned up
+a large expanse of fresh earth. Water was also used as freely as the
+state of wells and cisterns would permit.
+
+Before the half-hour was up the smoke and the flying sparks began to
+come toward the village, and inside of a quarter of an hour the entire
+forest to the north of Greenpoint was a mass of flames.
+
+The lurid blaze made the darkness of the evening as bright as day, and
+this blaze lasted until the rising of the sun on the following morning.
+All night long the villagers worked without ceasing, and the morning
+found them still at their various posts of duty.
+
+At eight o’clock it began to rain. At first the drops came down
+sparingly, but soon it began to pour steadily, and then every one knew
+that the terrible danger which had threatened them for fourteen hours
+was past.
+
+The village was filled with a thick, choking smoke, but no one cared
+for this. All went round from place to place, congratulating each other
+and thanking God for their deliverance.
+
+And Joe was not forgotten. It was Deacon Quilby who started the thanks
+which were given him before he returned home.
+
+“If it hadn’t a-bin for Joe Johnson, Marthy and I would most likely
+hev been burnt up,” he said, with tears standing in his blue eyes. “He
+saved our lives, and I allow as he saved the village, too, God bless
+him!”
+
+Stirring as they had been, the incidents attending the forest fires in
+the district did not stop Joe from training for the championship race.
+
+He was out early and late, and often took Dick Burns and Ralph Riley
+along to pace him on a tandem which belonged to the former.
+
+The race was to come off in Boston, so it would be necessary for Joe to
+leave home several days previous to the event.
+
+“I must win--I simply must,” he said to himself more than a score of
+times.
+
+All his friends came on to see the races, including Dick, his sister
+Carrie, Charley, Ralph Riley, Dan Hukley, Sam Anderson, and Carl
+Lathrop. Wilbur Rand was also present, having entered the ten-mile
+event.
+
+Joe was very careful as to what he eat, for he knew his stomach must be
+in prime condition or he could not win.
+
+Paul watched over his brother carefully nearly all the time.
+
+There was five hundred dollars at stake, and the championship besides.
+
+But unknown to them an enemy was at work.
+
+It was Lemuel Akers, who had become a gambler and heavy drinker.
+
+He heard how Joe was training, and set to work to defeat the youth he
+so hated.
+
+“He made me an outcast,” reasoned Lemuel Akers to himself. “Now I’ll
+ruin his chance of winning, see if I don’t, and then--we’ll settle old
+scores.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+FOILING AN ENEMY.
+
+
+It took Lemuel Akers quite some time to perfect his plans against our
+hero, for he realized that he would have to move cautiously.
+
+He kept out of sight of Joe and his friends, and none of them imagined
+the rascal was around.
+
+Joe had taken up his quarters at a private house in the suburbs of the
+city.
+
+Paul and Dick were constantly with him. The three ate, drank, and slept
+together.
+
+Two days before the great race was to come off Joe retired a little
+earlier than usual, after a substantial supper.
+
+There were a double and a single bed in the room. Joe and Paul occupied
+the double bed, while Dick slept in the other.
+
+All went sound asleep, and the room became quiet excepting for the
+irregular breathing of the trio.
+
+The window which overlooked a side addition to the house was
+half-open, to admit fresh air into the bedchamber.
+
+A quarter of an hour went by, and then the form of a young man appeared
+on the roof outside of the window.
+
+The midnight prowler was Lemuel Akers. His coat was buttoned tightly
+about his neck, his hat was pulled over his eyes, and a handkerchief
+was tied partly over his face.
+
+As cautiously as a cat Lemuel approached the window and peered in.
+
+“All asleep,” he thought. “Now to work, and then we will see whether
+Joe Johnson rides in that race or not.”
+
+Without the slightest noise he entered the room.
+
+From his coat pocket he took a small bottle, and pouring some of the
+liquor it contained on a sponge, he approached the bed upon which Dick
+Burns lay.
+
+He applied the sponge to Dick’s nose.
+
+The sponge contained chloroform, and soon Dick was overcome.
+
+“Number one!” muttered Lemuel Akers to himself.
+
+Paul Johnson was next approached.
+
+As Lemuel was working with the sponge, Joe turned over on his other
+side.
+
+As quick as a flash Akers tried to drop down out of sight. In making
+the move his foot struck a rocking chair, causing a sharp noise.
+
+Instantly Joe sat up.
+
+“Who is there?” he cried. “Dick, was that you?”
+
+Of course, poor Dick could not answer. The question aroused Paul, who
+was but partly overcome.
+
+“Wha--what’s the matter?” he stammered.
+
+“Dick!” again called Joe.
+
+He looked toward his chum. Dick lay there so still that he grew full of
+fear and leaped out of bed.
+
+He almost landed on top of Lemuel Akers, who dodged and tried to find
+the door to the hallway.
+
+“Stop! stop!” called out Joe, and he made a dash after the intruder.
+
+He caught Lemuel by the arm.
+
+The young rascal threw him off, but Joe was plucky, and, though not yet
+fully aroused, he again went after his enemy.
+
+The two grappled by the door and rolled over and over on the floor,
+upsetting a table and a chair.
+
+By this time Paul was able to come to Joe’s assistance.
+
+“Let me go!” cried Akers.
+
+“Lemuel Akers!” cried Joe, as he recognized the voice.
+
+“Did you hear what I said?”
+
+“I won’t let you go. What are you doing in this room?”
+
+“I--I got in by mistake.”
+
+“Well, you won’t go out by mistake,” retorted Joe grimly. “Turn on the
+gas, Paul.”
+
+By this time the entire household was in commotion. Several came
+running to the room, asking what was the matter.
+
+“I’ve caught a thief, and worse,” said Joe. “Lie still, Lemuel.”
+
+“Lemuel Akers!” cried Paul Johnson, after the gas was lit.
+
+“What are you going to do with me?” whined Lemuel.
+
+He was now thoroughly cowed and utterly miserable.
+
+“You’ll find out soon enough,” replied Joe coldly.
+
+While some saw to it that the rascal did not escape, Joe and others
+attended to Dick, who soon came around all right, although he suffered
+with a headache all of the next day.
+
+Then Lemuel Akers was searched. The bottle of chloroform was taken from
+him, as was also another drug, something of a very harmful nature,
+which he had intended to administer to Joe.
+
+“You are too much of a villain to be allowed at large,” said Joe.
+“Call an officer and have him taken to jail.”
+
+“Never!” cried Lemuel, and breaking his bonds, he leaped out of the
+room and down a back stairs.
+
+Joe had to wait to don his clothing. Then he went after the former
+bully of Lockport.
+
+The yard gained he caught a brief vision of the bully on the top of the
+back fence.
+
+“Come back!” he yelled.
+
+“To the Old Nick with you, Joe Johnson!” returned the bad boy, and then
+dropped from the fence and started down a lane as fast as his feet
+would carry him.
+
+In three seconds Joe was over the fence and in pursuit.
+
+It was now a question of speed between the two.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII.
+
+A BATTLE ON A RUNAWAY CAR.
+
+
+If there was one thing which Lemuel Akers could do well it was run.
+
+At school he had often bested all opponents in contests of this sort.
+
+His legs were long and the way he placed one in front of the other was
+really remarkable.
+
+Our hero, on the other hand, had but rarely tried his speed.
+
+He could run at baseball or in a game of hare and hounds, but that was
+as far as it went.
+
+But Joe’s wind was good, and his legs long, and these counted for a
+good deal.
+
+Down the street went Lemuel, with our hero not over a hundred feet
+behind him.
+
+The thoroughfare was a little less than a quarter of a mile in length.
+It came to an end at the side of the Charles River.
+
+At the foot of the street’s dock rested a rowboat, and into this leaped
+the bully, and shoved himself well out.
+
+When Joe reached the dock Lemuel was more than a hundred feet from
+shore.
+
+“Not to-day, Joe Johnson!” called out Lemuel tauntingly. “Some other
+day. Good-day!”
+
+And he started for the other side of the river.
+
+Joe did not know what to do, for no other boat was at hand.
+
+He watched Lemuel and saw the bully heading for the upper end of the
+river.
+
+“He must be bound for somewhere,” thought Joe.
+
+Although without a boat, our hero did not intend to give up the chase.
+
+Leaving the edge of the dock he hid behind some lumber.
+
+Soon he felt certain Lemuel was going up to a number of freight piers
+above.
+
+“If I only had my wheel,” thought Joe.
+
+Scarcely had this passed through his mind, when the sounds of hoofs
+reached his ears.
+
+Soon a horse attached to a light wagon hove into sight.
+
+On the seat of the wagon sat an old farmer.
+
+In a few words Joe explained the situation.
+
+“Will you drive me along the docks after that fellow?” he asked.
+
+“Certainly. Anything to catch a thief.”
+
+Joe sprang into the light wagon, and off they went for half a dozen
+blocks.
+
+Then our hero ran down to another dock.
+
+The boat was there, showing that Lemuel had already landed.
+
+At first Joe could find no trace of the bully, but presently he struck
+a boy who had seen him.
+
+“Went over toward the freight station,” said the urchin.
+
+And to the station our hero took his way.
+
+It was a busy yard. A dozen men were loading and unloading several
+trains of freight cars.
+
+A number of empties were standing around and Joe began to peer into
+first one and then another.
+
+Suddenly he came face to face with Lemuel.
+
+The bully struck at him with a stick he had picked up.
+
+Joe caught the blow on the arm and hit Lemuel on the left ear.
+
+The bully rolled over on the car floor and clean out of the door on the
+opposite side.
+
+At that instant the train backed still further into the yard.
+
+By the time Joe could get to the other side of the track Lemuel was
+fifty feet away.
+
+He was running toward a train of empties which were just leaving the
+freight station.
+
+He caught the next to the last car.
+
+At the top of his speed Joe came on.
+
+He made a desperate effort and caught the rear railing of the last car.
+
+It was hard work to pull himself up on the car.
+
+Then he crossed the top and let himself down into the car Lemuel had
+entered.
+
+The bully tried to fight him off, but a sudden curve in the track threw
+him down on his back.
+
+The curve nearly caused our hero to lose his life. But he held fast,
+and a second later dropped in through the open side door and right on
+top of Akers.
+
+A fierce fight ensued. The bully did his best to throw Joe from the
+car, and on the other hand our hero fought to bring the bully to
+submission.
+
+At last Joe was successful. He struck Lemuel squarely between the eyes,
+and the bully fell down as if laid out with a club.
+
+When he came to, Joe had tied his hands behind him with a handkerchief.
+
+“Now, if you try any more funny work I’ll give you some more,” said our
+hero by way of a warning.
+
+Finding himself a prisoner, Lemuel began to beg of our hero to let him
+go.
+
+“It was only a joke,” he said.
+
+“It’s a joke which will cost you dear,” replied our hero grimly.
+
+“But look here,” went on the bully. “Let me go and I’ll make it worth
+your while?”
+
+“Can’t do it.”
+
+Then Lemuel offered our hero a big sum of money if allowed to escape.
+
+It was his share of another robbery he had committed.
+
+To tell the truth, Lemuel Akers had become a criminal of the first
+order.
+
+“I’ll not let you go for all the gold in the neighborhood, and that
+ends it,” said Joe.
+
+He had just spoken when there came a sudden jar and a jolt.
+
+The car came to a standstill and then began to move backward.
+
+It kept going backward faster and faster.
+
+In alarm Joe looked out of the door.
+
+Then he realized the truth.
+
+The car and the one behind it had broken away from the rest of the
+train.
+
+He and Lemuel were on a runaway car and going along a down grade at a
+speed of a mile a minute!
+
+The bully saw that something was wrong and he grew pale on the instant.
+
+“What’s the matter?” he gasped.
+
+“The car has cut away from the main train and along with the rear one
+is running away,” replied our hero.
+
+Then he sprang to Lemuel’s side.
+
+“I’ll release your hands,” he went on, “so that you will have as good a
+chance as I for your life.”
+
+He quickly untied the handkerchief.
+
+The bully began to tremble from head to foot.
+
+“Do you think we will be--be killed?” he gasped.
+
+“I don’t know what will happen. Better stand by the door and be
+prepared to jump off.”
+
+Joe stepped to one door, and, trembling in every limb, Lemuel went to
+the other.
+
+On and on swept the cars down.
+
+Down around a curve.
+
+A switch appeared.
+
+The cars were now running at a fearful rate of speed, and at the switch
+they both jumped the track.
+
+There was a series of bumps, a jerk, and then came a fearful crash of
+splintering wood.
+
+Joe went sailing through the air. He landed on his back in a pool of
+meadow water, and then knew no more.
+
+When he came to his senses a dozen men were bending over him. He had
+been taken from the pool and placed on a number of coats spread out on
+the dry grass.
+
+“He’s coming around now,” he heard somebody say, and then sat up and
+stared about him.
+
+Near at hand lay both cars completely smashed.
+
+The crowd was composed of railroad men and included the regular hands
+of the train.
+
+It was some time before Joe could tell his story.
+
+The crowd listened with interest.
+
+A search was made for Lemuel Akers, and he was found lying but a short
+distance away, fearfully injured.
+
+“Get a doctor!” he groaned. “Oh, my leg! Oh, my leg!”
+
+An examination was made and the limb was found to be broken.
+
+Both Joe and his enemy were placed on another train and taken back to
+Boston.
+
+They were met by Joe’s friends and the police.
+
+Joe was at once taken to his stopping place and everything was done to
+put him into condition again.
+
+Lemuel was removed to a hospital. Later on he was charged with
+entering, and sent to prison for one year. Joe could have preferred a
+more serious charge, but he did not want to be too hard on the fellow.
+
+“It’s the fault of his training as much as anything,” he said to Dick.
+“The whole Akers crowd are not worth their salt.”
+
+“You are right, Joe,” replied Dick. Then he shuddered. “How thankful I
+am that we escaped.”
+
+“So am I.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+
+THE RACE--GOOD-BY TO THE BICYCLISTS.
+
+
+The great race track was literally jammed with people.
+
+And why not? Were not the very best riders in the country to compete
+there for supremacy?
+
+Joe felt it was the event of his life.
+
+“It is do or die!” he said to himself, almost desperately.
+
+He wanted to win. It meant much to him--money, fame, and better
+business for the family; for if he won Joe was to become the
+representative of one of the largest wheel concerns in the State.
+
+For two weeks he had been preparing for a race that was to last less
+than five minutes.
+
+It was a good deal of preparation for such a short event.
+
+The first race on the programme was that in which Wilbur Rand was one
+of the starters. Despite the fact that he had fine riders against him,
+Rand came in second, winning several hundred dollars.
+
+Then came half a dozen other events.
+
+“Joe! it’s time to go on!”
+
+Dick had called him.
+
+Was everything in apple-pie order?
+
+Paul Johnson made a most minute examination.
+
+“All O. K. as far as I can see, Joe,” he said. “And now, good luck to
+you. Show them your best.”
+
+Out into the ring rode our hero.
+
+Ten thousand voices greeted him, for a boy is always a favorite.
+
+“The best-hearted rider that ever lived,” said many.
+
+Each man rode around the track several times.
+
+Then the starter called them together.
+
+“Gentlemen, are you all ready?”
+
+A silence so intense that one might have heard a pin drop followed.
+
+Crack!
+
+At the sound of the pistol seven bicyclists bent to their pedals and
+shot ahead like so many arrows from a single bow.
+
+“A beautiful start!”
+
+“Perfect! The best yet!”
+
+“It’s going to be the closest race on the programme.”
+
+“See them go, boys!”
+
+And go they did, flashing by the spectators like an express train.
+
+The first half-mile was passed.
+
+Time for the leader, one minute two seconds.
+
+Joe was the fourth man; time, one minute three seconds.
+
+On and on they went.
+
+A mile is covered.
+
+Time for the leader, two minutes ten seconds.
+
+Joe is now third; time, two minutes nineteen seconds.
+
+On and on they flash, making each turn at breakneck speed.
+
+The crowd goes frantic.
+
+A mile and a half has been covered.
+
+Time for the leader, three minutes thirty-one seconds--the terrific
+pace is telling.
+
+But Joe is striving manfully for second place. Time for second and
+third men, three minutes thirty-four seconds.
+
+And now the last half is on.
+
+See them go! It is the great struggle of the giants.
+
+Joe is riding as he never rode before.
+
+But now what is he up to?
+
+The crowd hold their breaths and then break out into a perfect roar.
+
+He has not yet reached his limit.
+
+He is spurting, faster than ever.
+
+He fairly runs away from the second man.
+
+Now he is crawling up behind the leader.
+
+In vain the rider tries to shake him off.
+
+Joe knows exactly what he is doing.
+
+He keeps behind the leader until the very last stretch is reached.
+
+And then?
+
+Can that really be our hero who is bending down over the handle bar,
+his feet twinkling so rapidly that one can scarce see them?
+
+Joe has let himself out to the full limit.
+
+A wild, daring, marvelous rush, the like of which had never before been
+witnessed, and the leader is passed, and Joe comes over the tape the
+winner by three yards!
+
+Time, four minutes forty-seven seconds!
+
+The record has been completely smashed, and Joe is the champion
+two-mile bicycle rider of the country.
+
+He goes on half a lap before he stops. Then, amid the applause of the
+immense crowd, he wheels around the track and into the outstretched
+arms of Paul, his father, and Dick Burns.
+
+A hundred hands are thrust out to shake his own, but he is hurried to
+his dressing-room, there to be rubbed down and to receive medical
+attention if it be necessary.
+
+“He’s the boy!” cries Charley Osborne.
+
+“That’s right,” says Sam Anderson. “They can’t beat our Joe.”
+
+“The nicest rider on the track,” is what Carl and Larry add.
+
+Carrie Burns says but little, but the bright smile she gives Joe speaks
+volumes.
+
+That evening our hero is dined and toasted, and on the following day
+the purse of five hundred dollars in gold is presented to him at a
+great public banquet.
+
+Carrie Burns is there, as well as Joe’s relatives and friends, and Joe
+is the happiest young man on the face of the globe.
+
+And here let us leave him--in the midst of his successes. He is settled
+down now, having married Carrie Burns, the sweetheart of his boyhood
+days. He is interested in a large bicycle manufacturing company and is
+rapidly growing rich. Let us wish him and all who surround him well.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:
+
+
+  Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.
+
+  Perceived typographical errors have been corrected.
+
+  Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.
+
+  Archaic or variant spelling has been retained.
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75952 ***