LOOKING FOR THE RUNAWAYS
When Dave and Roger went to the midday meal in the dining-room they
looked all over for Phil, Ben, and Buster, but the three were not in
sight.
"Dave, they haven't come back yet."
"So I see," returned our hero, and he was much disturbed. He ate
sparingly, and the senator's son also had but little appetite for the
meal.
"Say, what's become of those chaps?" questioned Shadow.
"I'll tell you later," answered Dave. "Don't say anything now--and
tell the others to keep quiet, too."
But such a happening could not be kept quiet, and soon it was
whispered around that Phil, Ben, and Buster were missing. This
presently got to the ears of Andrew Dale, and the head assistant
teacher sought out Dave for an explanation.
"I understand you went out with Lawrence, Basswood, and Beggs this
morning, Porter," said the teacher. "They are not yet back. Do you
know where they went?"
"They went off in a motor-boat, that is all I know about that part of
it, Mr. Dale. Roger Morr and I would like to speak to you and Doctor
Clay in private. It is very important," went on our hero.
"Very well. Come at once to the office and I will call the doctor."
A little later found the two youths in the office with Doctor Clay and
his head assistant. There, as briefly as he could, Dave told his
story, and Roger corroborated what was said. The head of the school
was deeply interested and not a little alarmed.
"This is certainly serious," he declared, with a grave shake of his
head. "It reflects not only on you but on this school. I must look
into this at once." And then he asked many questions, and Andrew Dale
did the same.
"Running away makes it look bad for Lawrence, Beggs, and Basswood,"
remarked Mr. Dale. "They should have stood their ground, as Morr and
Porter did."
"That hotel man and the constable probably scared them so they did not
know what they were doing," returned Doctor Clay. He turned to the
boys. "You have no idea where they went?"
"No, sir, excepting that they went up the river in the Kingsley
motor-boat. They know Tom Kingsley quite well and he lets them use the
boat once in a while."
"Do you think you could find them, if I let you off to do so?"
"We could try, sir."
"Then you may go at once. Tell them it was very foolish to run away,
and urge them to come back at once," added Doctor Clay.
A little more conversation followed, and then Dave and Roger left the
office and started on the search for the runaways.
"We ought to have a motor-boat ourselves, to follow them up the
river--that is, if they went any distance," said the senator's son.
"We might try to borrow one, Roger."
"Not Nat Poole's--he wouldn't lend it to us."
"I know that."
The two students walked to the river and looked up and down the
stream. A rowboat and a sailboat were in sight, but that was all.
"There is Jack Laplow in his sloop," cried Dave, mentioning a riverman
they knew. "The wind is blowing up the stream. Maybe he'll take us
along."
They hailed the riverman, who made a living by doing all sorts of jobs
on the stream. He did not have much to do just then and readily
agreed, for a small amount, to take them up the river and bring them
back.
"We want to find some fellows who are in the Kingsley motor-boat,"
explained Dave. "Have you seen anything of them?"
The riverman had not, but said he would help to watch out for the
lads. Dave and Roger hopped aboard the sloop, and soon the little
craft was standing up the Leming River, with Jack Laplow at the
tiller.
It was a warm, clear day, and had the boys not been distressed in
mind, they would have enjoyed the sail immensely. But as it was, they
were very sober, so much so in fact that the old riverman at length
remarked:
"What's wrong--somebody hurt, or are ye going to a funeral?"
"No funeral," answered Dave, with a forced laugh. "But we are in a
hurry to find those three fellows."
"Well, I don't see no motor-boat yet," answered Jack Laplow.
"One thing is certain: if it went up the river it's got to come down,"
said Roger.
"They may get out and send it back," answered our hero.
"But, Dave, surely you don't think----" But Dave put up his hand for
silence and nodded in the direction of the boatman; and the senator's
son said no more.
A mile and a half were covered, and they were just passing one of the
many islands in the river, when Jack Laplow gave a shout.
"There is the motor-boat now!"
"Boat ahoy!" shouted Dave, and then, as they drew closer, he saw that
it was really the Kingsley craft. He was chagrined to see that only a
man was on board, a fellow who was running the boat very slowly.
"Where are those boys who were aboard?" demanded our hero, as the
motor-boat came closer.
"Is this your boat?" asked the man on board, in return.
"No, but my friends were on that boat. Where are they?"
"Left the boat at Snog's Point, and hired me to bring her back. I
don't know much about motor-boats, so I'm running kind o' slow,"
explained the man.
"Snog's Point?" repeated Roger. "Where were they going?"
"Don't ask me, for I don't know. They was in a tremenjous hurry, I
know that. It's all right, ain't it?" went on the man, quickly.
"Oh, yes, it was all right," answered Dave. And then they allowed the
man to go on his way.
[Illustration: "THERE IS THE MOTOR-BOAT NOW!"--_Page 186_.]
"Want to go up to Snog's Point?" asked the man of the sloop.
"Yes,--and as quickly as you can get there," replied Dave.
As the wind was in the right direction, it did not take long. The
Point was a rocky cliff with a stretch of sand at its base. Here the
boys jumped ashore.
"Want me to wait for you?" asked the riverman.
"Wait for half an hour," said Dave. "Then, if we are not back, you can
go back;" and so it was arranged.
In the sand our hero and Roger could plainly see the marks of the
motor-boat and many footprints. They followed the footprints to a road
leading through a stretch of woods, and then came out on a highway
leading to Barrelton.
"The town is about half a mile from here. Wonder if they went there?"
mused Roger.
"Maybe we can learn something at the nearest farmhouse," suggested
Dave.
They hurried on, and presently reached a farmhouse set close to the
road, with a barn on the other side. At a grindstone a tall, thin boy
was sharpening a sickle.
"Yes, I saw them fellers," he drawled, when asked about the runaways.
"They was walking to town to beat the cars. I thought they must be in
one o' them cross-country races, or something like that."
"Come on!" cried Dave to his chum. Then he turned back suddenly. "Do
you know anything about the trains from Barrelton?"
"Ain't many trains from there," answered the youth at the grindstone.
"But do you know what there are?"
"There's a train north jest about due now."
"And what is next?"
"A train south a leetle after four o'clock. An' the freight goes
through at seven."
"Hurry, Roger!" cried Dave.
"Do you think they'd take a train, Dave?"
"I don't know--I hope not."
The two boys set off on a run, taking it easy at first, so as not to
get winded. They passed a number of farms and presently came in sight
of Barrelton, so called because of the barrel factory located there.
From a distance they had heard the whistle of a locomotive, and knew
that the north-bound train had stopped at the station and gone on.
"There is the station!" cried Dave, pointing up the railroad tracks.
They continued to run and did not stop until they gained the platform.
Here they met the ticket agent.
"The train just went, didn't it?" asked Dave, and as the agent
nodded, he went on: "Did three young fellows like ourselves get on?"
"If they did, I didn't see 'em," answered the man.
"Oh!" cried Roger, "maybe they didn't take the train, after all."
"Let us hope so."
Somewhat out of breath, the two boys tramped around Barrelton, looking
for Phil and the others, and asking about them. But nobody appeared to
have seen the runaways, and not a trace of them was to be found
anywhere.
"All we can do is to get something to eat and take the other train for
Oakdale," said Roger, after they had satisfied themselves that the
runaways were nowhere in that vicinity. The walking around had made
him hungry.
They procured some pie and milk at a little stand near the station,
and shortly after four o'clock took the way train for Oakdale and
walked to the school. They went directly to the doctor's office. The
master of Oak Hall listened patiently to what they had to tell.
"I am sorry you did not find them," he said, gravely. "It was very
foolish of them to run away, very. I trust they will come back of
their own accord soon."
"Will you see Mr. Sparr about the matter?" asked Dave.
"Yes, Porter. And I wish you and Morr to go with me."
The interview took place that evening, the boys and the doctor driving
down to the hotel after supper. Jason Sparr treated the master of the
Hall politely but said very little.
"When I make my next move I'll have a lawyer," he said. "I know
somebody tried to blow up my hotel, and I think it was some of your
boys--that Lawrence boy especially. But I ain't going to have 'em
arrested until I can prove it."
"Very well," answered Doctor Clay. "And in the meantime, you had
better keep quiet, or you may have a suit for damages on hand."
On the day following there was something of a sensation. The weekly
newspaper issued in a nearby town came out with a thrilling account of
the dynamiting of the dining-room of the hotel. In the account
appeared the following:
"There is strong evidence pointing to the fact that the outrageous
deed was perpetrated by some schoolboys who held a grudge against
Mr. Sparr. They are known to have been present at the blowing up
of the old stone bridge, and were seen near the shanty where the
sticks of dynamite were kept, and one boy of the town says he saw
a young man coming from the shanty with something in his hand. Mr.
Sparr has the authorities at work and is piling up his evidence,
and the arrest of the rascally schoolboys may be hourly expected.
It is said that some of the boys have run away, but the
authorities have an idea where they can be located. The town
committee is thinking of offering a reward for the capture and
conviction of the rascals. For the safety of our citizens, the
Weekly Globe-Leader hopes the evil-doers will soon be
apprehended."
No names were mentioned in this account, but everybody in Oakdale and
vicinity knew that the boys of Oak Hall were alluded to, and there was
much talk over what might be done. Doctor Clay felt the disgrace
keenly, and Dave and Roger were equally affected.
"What are we going to do, Dave?" asked the senator's son.
"I don't know," returned our hero. "But we've got to do something,
that's certain."