MR. JOB HASKERS'S DOINGS
"And now for Oak Hall!"
It was Dave who uttered the words, the next morning, after a good
night's rest and an early breakfast. The big touring car had been
brought around by Dunston Porter, and the young folks had climbed in
and stowed away the limited baggage they carried. All felt in
excellent spirits, and Dave was particularly gay. What Jessie had said
the evening before, and the way she had said it, still hung in his
mind. She was a splendid girl, and if it was in him to do it, he was
going to make himself worthy of her. He was still young, so he did not
dwell long over these things, but his regard for her was entirely
proper, and likely to make him do his best in his endeavors.
Phil had asked for permission to run the car for a while and took the
wheel as soon as Ryeport was left behind. The shipowner's son knew how
to handle an automobile almost as well as any of them, but he had one
fault, which was, that he did not steer out of the way of sharp
stones and like things calculated to bring on punctures and
blow-outs.
"My, what a glorious morning!" exclaimed Laura, as they bowled along
over the smooth roads.
"Couldn't be better," answered Roger. "Wish we were going on all day!"
he added.
"So do I," added Dave. They expected to reach Oakdale by noon, get
dinner there, and then run up to the school.
"Not too fast, Phil," warned Mr. Porter, as the shipowner's son "let
her out a bit," as he expressed it. "You don't know what sort of a
road you've got beyond the turn."
"We'll soon be coming to some roads we know," answered Phil. "Those we
used to travel on our bicycles."
They passed through several towns and villages. Then they reached a
crossroads, and here some men and a steam roller were at work, and the
road was closed. One of the workmen motioned for them to take the road
on the left.
"Must be a road around," said Dunston Porter. "It doesn't look very
good, but you can try it. Shall I take the wheel?"
"Oh, I can run the car easily enough," answered Phil.
For half a mile they went on without trouble, through a rolling
country where the scenery was very fine. Then they reached a point
where the road was full of loose stones.
"Be careful!" cried Mr. Porter.
They rolled on, past a pretty farmhouse and some barns. They were just
on the point of making another turn when there came a sudden bang!
from under the car, and the turnout swayed to one side of the road.
Phil threw out the clutch and put on the brakes, and they came to a
standstill. Then the driver shut off the engine.
"What is the matter?" queried Jessie.
"A blow-out, I guess," answered Dave. "We'll soon see."
Dunston Porter and the boys got down to the ground and made an
examination. The shoe of the rear left wheel had been badly cut by the
sharp stones and the inner tube had been blown out through the cut.
"We'll have to put on one of the other shoes," said Mr. Porter. They
carried two with them, besides half a dozen inner tubes.
"All right, here is where we get to work!" cried Dave. "Somebody time
us, please," and he started in by getting off his coat and cuffs and
donning a working jumper. His uncle quickly followed suit, while Phil
and Roger got out the lifting-jack and some tools.
The girls stood watching the proceedings for a while and then strolled
back towards the farmhouse. The boys and Mr. Porter became so
engrossed in putting on a new inner tube and a shoe that they did not
notice their absence. The new shoe fitted the rim of the wheel rather
tightly and they had all they could do to get it into place.
"Phew! this is work and no mistake!" murmured Roger. "I wonder why
they can't get tires that won't blow out or go down."
"Maybe some day they will have them," answered Dunston Porter.
"I reckon this is all my fault," put in Phil, ruefully. "I must have
gone over some extra sharp stone, and it cut like a knife."
"Oh, such accidents are liable to happen to anybody," answered Dave.
He looked at his watch. "Twenty-five minutes, and we haven't blown it
up yet! No record job this time."
"Thank fortune we've got a patent pump to do the pumping for us,"
remarked his uncle. Pumping tires by hand he found a very disagreeable
task.
At last the shoe and tube were in place and the pump was set in
motion. Dave watched the gauge, and when it was high enough he shut
off the air. The tools were put away, and they were ready to go on
again.
"The girls went back to that farmhouse," said the senator's son,
pointing to a small cottage.
"Let us run back and pick them up, and wash our hands at the well."
Once in front of the house, Dunston Porter, who was at the wheel,
sounded the horn. At the same time the boys made for the well, which
stood between the house and one of the barns.
"Maybe the girls went inside," remarked Dave, as he looked in vain for
them.
"Must be somewhere around," returned Phil.
All washed up, using soap and towels carried in the car. Then Dave
went to the door of the farmhouse and knocked. In answer to the
summons Laura appeared.
"Oh, Dave, come in!" she cried. "I want you to meet the lady here."
Wondering what his sister wanted, our hero stepped into the
sitting-room, which was small and plainly but neatly furnished. In a
rocking-chair sat an elderly woman, pale and careworn.
"Mrs. Breen, this is my brother," said Laura. "And these are his
school chums," she added, nodding towards Phil and Roger.
"How do you do, boys?" said the woman, in a thin, trembling voice.
"We just told her we were bound for Oak Hall," said Jessie, who was
also present. "And she says she knows somebody there."
"She knows Mr. Job Haskers," finished Laura.
"Mr. Haskers!" repeated Dave, mentioning the name of one of the
teachers--a dictatorial individual nobody liked, and who was allowed
to keep his position mainly because of his abilities as an instructor.
The chums had had more than one dispute with Job Haskers, and all
wished that he would leave the school.
"Yes, yes, I know him," answered Mrs. Breen, nodding her head gravely
and thoughtfully. "He is a great scholar--a very great scholar," and
she nodded again. She was not well and her mind did not appear to be
overly bright. She lived alone in the cottage, a neighboring farmer
taking care of her few acres of ground for her.
"Dave, come here," whispered Laura, and led her brother to a corner of
the room. "Mrs. Breen tells me that Mr. Haskers owes her money--that
he used to board with her and that he borrowed some--and she says he
writes that he can't pay her because he gets so little salary, and
that sometimes he has to wait a long while himself."
"How much is it?" asked Dave, with interest. He remembered how
close-fisted Job Haskers had been on more than one occasion.
"Nearly two hundred dollars, so she says."
"He ought to be able to pay that, Laura. I think he gets a fair
salary--in fact, I am sure of it--and I am also pretty sure that
Doctor Clay doesn't keep him waiting for his money."
"It is too bad! She looks so helpless and so much in need," murmured
the girl.
"I'll find out about this," answered Dave.
He sat down, as did the others, and soon had the elderly lady telling
her story in detail. It was not very long. Job Haskers had boarded
with her one summer, just before obtaining his position at Oak Hall,
and he owed her sixty dollars for this. During the time he had spent
with her he had spoken of a school-book he was going to publish that
would bring him in much money, and she had loaned him a hundred and
twenty-five dollars for this. But she had never seen the school-book,
nor had he ever paid back a cent. His plea, when she had written to
him, had been that his pay was poor and that he had to wait a long
time to get money, and that his publishers had not yet gotten around
to selling his book.
"I never heard of any book he got out," said Roger. "And I think I
would hear if there was such a book."
"That's so," added Phil. "Old Haskers would be so proud of it he would
want everybody to know."
"It is certainly a shame he doesn't pay this lady, if he has the
money," was Dunston Porter's comment. "Did he give you a note?" he
asked of Mrs. Breen.
"He wrote out some kind of a paper and was going to give it to me. But
I never got it."
"He's a swindler, that's what he is!" murmured Phil, wrathfully.
"It looks that way," answered Dave, in an equally low tone.
"He knows this lady is next to helpless and he intends to do her out
of the money!"
"He ought to be sued," exclaimed Roger.
"You have no note, or other writing about the money?" questioned Mr.
Porter.
"I have his letters," answered the elderly lady. "They are in the
bureau yonder." And she pointed to an ancient chest of drawers.
"Shall I get them?" asked Jessie, for she saw that it was a task for
the old lady to move around.
"If you will, my dear. I am so stiff it is hard to get up."
Both girls went to the chest of drawers and brought out a small box of
letters. Mrs. Breen put on her glasses and fumbled them over and
brought forth three communications which were, as the boys recognized,
in Job Haskers's well-known jerky handwriting. She passed them over to
be read, and all present perused them with interest.
The contents, however, were disappointing, especially to the boys and
Dunston Porter, who had hoped to find something by which legally to
hold the school-teacher. Not once did Job Haskers mention that he owed
Mrs. Breen any money. He simply stated that he regretted he could do
nothing for her, that times were hard, and that his income was limited
and hard to get. He said as little as possible, and the tone of the
communications showed that he hoped he would hear no more from the old
lady who had done what she could to aid him.
"I think this is the limit!" said Dave to his uncle. "Don't you think
he ought to be sued?"
"I don't know about suing him, Dave; but I think this ought to be put
in a lawyer's hands."
"He makes money enough to pay this lady," said Phil. "Say, I've a good
mind to give him a piece of my mind!" he added, hotly.
"I'll look into this when I come back this way," said Dunston Porter,
after a little more talk. "Perhaps I can get one of our lawyers to
prod this Haskers a little, and also state the case to Doctor Clay."
"Oh, will you do that, Uncle Dunston?" cried Laura, brightening, for
she, as well as all of the others, felt sorry for Mrs. Breen, who
seemed so poor, old, and lonesome.
"Yes, I'll do it. And now we had better be on our way,--if we want to
reach Oakdale by noon," went on Mr. Porter.
The boys went out, followed by Jessie. Laura lingered, to whisper
something in her uncle's ear. Dunston Porter nodded, and then Laura
joined the others.
"Mrs. Breen, I will be back in a day or two, to see you about this
money affair," said Mr. Porter, when he and the old lady were alone.
"In the meantime, as you were so kind as to take the young ladies in
while we were mending our machine, allow me to make you a little
present," and as he finished he placed a five-dollar bill in her lap.
"Oh!" she cried, taking up the banknote. "Why, it's five dollars! I--I
can't really take all that money!"
"Oh, yes, you can," said Mr. Porter, smiling. "Use it as you see fit,
and remember that I'll be back, and we'll do what we can to get that
money from Mr. Haskers."
"You are very, very kind!" murmured the old lady, and tears stood in
her eyes. The past winter had been a severe one for her, and she had
had a hard struggle to get along.
"Good-by!" shouted the girls and boys to her, and she waved her hand
to them. Then the automobile started off once more, in the direction
of Oakdale.