DICK AND SAM IN CHICAGO
"Get some water, Songbird, quick!"
"Oh, Sam, shall I get some smelling salts!" cried Grace.
"I guess the water will do, Grace. Here, stand on this side, so those
other girls can't see Nellie," went on the boy. "No use of letting
them know everything."
Grace understood and she and Sam shielded Nellie and carried her to a
campus bench. Then Songbird arrived with a cup of water from a well.
Just as he handed it over, Nellie opened her eyes.
"Oh! I--I--what happened?" she murmured. "Oh, I remember now!" And a
look of pain crossed her face.
"Take a drink of water, dear," said her sister, and held the cup.
Nellie took a sip and then Grace bathed her forehead with some water
poured on a handkerchief that Sam passed over. Soon the girl sat up
straight.
"I--I'm all right now," she faltered. "It--it was such a--a shock.
Oh, Sam, do you really think Tom is bound for Alaska?"
"It looks like it, Nellie," he answered. "I'll tell you all about it,
if you'll walk down the road, away from those other students." And
then, as they walked away slowly, Sam and Songbird told their story,
the two girls hanging on their every word.
"It's awful, terrible!" murmured Grace. "Poor Tom, he must be clear
out of his mind!"
"That's the only explanation," answered Sam. "He'd never do such a
thing if he was in his right senses."
"Oh, but he may lose his mind entirely," gasped Nellie. "I've read of
such cases in the newspapers. A person wanders off and forgets who he
is, or where he came from, and all that! Supposing Tom went to Alaska
and that happened to him! Why, we might never be able to find him!"
And the tears began to course down Nellie's cheeks.
"We'll find him," answered Sam, sturdily. "Why, we've got to do it!"
"But Alaska is so big, Sam! And think of going out to those mining
camps, and out in that snow and ice! Oh, I can't stand it!" And
Nellie's tears started afresh.
"We'll have to catch him before he has a chance to leave St. Paul or
Seattle," returned the youth.
"I think they had better telegraph ahead and set somebody on the
watch," said Songbird. "It will cost money to send a description of
Tom, but it may pay to do it."
"Yes, yes! Do that, Sam! Anything to find Tom!" pleaded Nellie.
"We'll do what we can, Nellie, you can be sure of that," was the reply.
The boys remained with the girls a short time longer and then took
their departure.
"Take care of yourself, Sam," said Grace, on parting. "If you go West
don't get into any trouble."
"I won't get into any more trouble than I can help," he replied. "But
we are bound to find Tom and bring him back."
It was dark when the boys got back to Brill, and while Songbird
prepared to go to supper, Sam hurried to the office of the head of the
institution. He found Doctor Wallington pouring over some teacher's
reports. He listened with a troubled face to what Sam had to tell and
shook his head slowly.
"Too bad, Rover, and I sympathize with you and your family from the
bottom of my heart. Clearly that blow on the head has put your brother
completely out of his mind. I am glad that Richard is coming to Ashton
to aid you. What you had better do next is a problem."
"I think we'll send word West about Tom and then try to follow him,"
answered Sam. "That is why I came here--to notify you that I'd have to
leave."
"I shall be sorry to lose you, Samuel. Let us hope that you'll be able
to come back in a few days--and that Thomas's case will not prove as
bad as we think. I agree that it is best for you to move at once, for
there is no telling what your missing brother may do. Can I aid in any
way?"
"You may cash a check for me--I may need some ready money,--if Dick
doesn't happen to have enough with him."
"I'll do that with pleasure. Anything else?"
"I want to go to Ashton late this evening, to meet Dick. I'll take a
suitcase with me."
"One of the men can drive you down. Will your brother come here?"
"Possibly. But both of us may stay in Ashton, to take the one o'clock
train for Chicago. It stops on signal, you know."
"Yes. Very well. Anything else?"
"No, sir," answered Sam, and then he wrote out the check and got his
money. A little later, after a hasty supper, he started to pack his
suitcase with such things as he thought he might need for the trip to
Chicago.
He was in the midst of his labors when Songbird came in, followed by
Spud, Stanley, Max and several others. All wanted to assist him, yet
they could do little. Each was deeply sympathetic.
"It's too bad, Sam," said Spud. "I hope you catch Tom before he has a
chance to leave Chicago. Why when a chap gets out of his mind there is
no telling what he'll do, or where he'll go."
"Oxactly so," came from Max. "I knowed a man vonce dot goes his mind
owid. He took an axe, and--veil neffer mind, Dom ton't do nuddings
like dot anyvay," added the German-American student hastily, after a
warning look from Songbird.
"I think that moving picture must have hit Tom hard," said Stanley.
"It was so lifelike. He talked about it a great deal."
"Yes, he couldn't forget it. He even talked about it in his sleep,"
returned Sam. "He wanted to go out and get those nuggets of gold."
"Well, I'd like some nuggets myself," cried Spud. "But I am not going
to the ice fields of Alaska for 'em," he added, grimly, and this caused
a faint smile to spread on some of the boys' faces.
Songbird had received permission to accompany Sam to Ashton, and at
nine o'clock the youths were on the way, in a carriage driven by one of
the college drivers. They went directly to the depot, there to await
the arrival of the train that was to bring Dick.
It was a cold, disagreeable evening, with a promise of rain in the air.
The boys were glad enough to go into the station, which was kept open
for the coming of the late train.
"Can a fellow get on that one o'clock Chicago train from here?" asked
Sam, of the ticket man.
"Yes, if he's got a ticket," was the reply. "I'll have to signal it to
stop though."
"Well, I'll let you know about it as soon as I see my brother. He is
coming in on the eleven-thirty."
It had begun to rain by the time the last-named train rolled in. Only
three passengers got off, but one of them was Dick. He had a suitcase
with him, and he fairly ran to meet Sam and Songbird.
"Any more news?" he demanded.
Sam related the particulars of what had occurred. In the meantime the
train had gone on and the station was deserted by all but the ticket
man.
"Going to lock up now," he said to the boys, who had gathered in the
station, out of the rain.
"Wait just one minute please," pleaded Sam.
"Here, go out and get some cigars for yourself," added Dick, and passed
over a quarter.
"Thanks, I will," returned the ticket man, and walked off to an
all-night resort not far from the station.
"I don't see anything to do but to follow Tom to Chicago," said Dick.
"We might send a telegram to the authorities, but I can't see how it
would do any good. They don't know him, and in a big city like that it
is hard enough to find a fellow when he is well-known. If we take that
one o'clock train we'll be in Chicago by morning, and I'd rather look
around myself than trust the police to do it."
"All right, I came prepared for the trip," answered Sam, and pointed to
his suitcase.
When the station man came back they purchased two tickets for Chicago
and the man set out his lantern to signal the express. Then Songbird
said good-bye, wishing them all kinds of good luck, and rode back to
Brill.
"Sam, this is simply terrible," observed the big brother, as he paced
the depot platform, the station master having gone away. "I never
thought such a thing as this would come to Tom."
"Neither did I, Dick. Nellie is all broke up over it, too."
"Naturally."
"Did you send word home? I didn't."
"No, I didn't want to worry the folks until the last minute. But Dora
knows, and so does Mrs. Stanhope."
"What about Dad's business, Dick? Can you get away from it?"
"I can't get away any too easily, Sam. Things are in a fearful snarl.
But I telephoned to Mr. Powell, the lawyer, to look after matters
during my absence. I think we've got those brokers under our thumb--at
least I hope so. But if we haven't, we stand to lose a bunch of money."
"How much?"
"Twenty or thirty thousand dollars."
"That's too bad. If you think you ought to go back, I might look for
Tom alone."
"Don't you dare to mention such a thing, Sam. I think more of Tom than
I do of twice that amount of money--and so do you and the rest of the
family. Our whole duty is to find Tom, and do it, too, before he gets
into more mischief, or gets hurt," concluded the oldest Rover.
Promptly on time the night express bound west came along. It seldom
stopped at Brill and the conductor gazed curiously at the two youths as
they got aboard. Then the lantern was extinguished and set aside, and
the heavy train rolled on.
Fortunately travel was light that night, so the lads had no trouble in
getting a section of a sleeper from the Pullman porter. They had only
the lower berth made up, and on that laid down, to talk matters over
and get some sleep.
"Yes, it must have been that moving picture that set Tom off," said
Dick, during the course of the conversation. "And that gives us
something like a clue to work on. The main scenes took place in
Alaska, and he may be just topsy-turvy enough in his mind to want to
find those places. Talking about golden nuggets, and about being on
the trail of Bill Stiger, looks like it, anyway."
"I think so myself, Dick. But his mind may change and he may go to
Mexico, or Europe," and Sam sighed deeply.
Neither of the boys slept much and both were up almost as early as
anybody on the train. More to pass the time than because they felt
hungry, they went into the dining car for breakfast.
At last the train rolled into the suburbs of the great city of the
lakes and finally came to a stop at the big depot. The youths took up
their suitcases and filed out with the other passengers.
"Have you any idea where we ought to look first?" asked Sam.
"I think we may as well leave our bags on check at this depot and look
around here," was the answer. "Tom started from here and maybe we'll
be lucky enough to meet somebody who saw and remembered him."
Having checked the suitcases, the Rovers started in earnest, asking the
men at the news stand and in the smoking room and at the lunch counter
and restaurant. Then they questioned the taxicab drivers, and even
some of the newsboys and bootblacks.
"It looks almost hopeless," said Sam, at last.
"Not yet," returned Dick. "We haven't struck the most important people
yet. Funny we didn't think of them first."
"Whom do you mean?"
"The ticket sellers. Let me have that photo of Tom and we'll see if
any of them remember him."
From one ticket window they went to another, until they reached an
elderly man, who gazed at the photograph with interest.
"Yes, I remember that young man," he said, slowly. "He was here
yesterday afternoon."
"Did he buy a railroad ticket?"
"He did."
"Where to?"
"Seattle."
"Can you remember on what train?" asked Sam.
"Sure. I had to hurry for him, for he took the four-ten train, by way
of St. Paul," was the reply.