"What do you make of this, Dave?"
"I don't know what to make of it, Roger--excepting that somebody has
taken our things."
"Do you think it's a joke, or just plain stealing?" demanded Ben.
"That remains to be found out," replied Ben. "One thing is certain, the
things didn't walk off by themselves."
"Footprints of two persons!" exclaimed Gus, who had been scanning the
snow-covered ground in the vicinity of the trees and bushes.
"Where do they lead to?" asked Dave, eagerly.
"Here they are--you can follow them as easily as I can," was the reply,
and the heavy-set youth pointed out the tracks in the snow. They led all
around the trees and bushes and then in the direction of the river. Here
there were a jumble of tracks and further on the marks of skate runners.
"Stopped to put on their skates," remarked the senator's son.
"And they have skated off with all our things!" grumbled Buster Beggs.
"What are we going to do?"
"Say, that puts me in mind of a story," came quickly from Shadow. "Once
two boys were out skating and----"
"For the sake of the mummies of Egypt, let up on the story-telling,
Shadow!" burst out Phil. "Don't you realize what this loss means to us?
It's bad enough to lose the hamper and clothing, but what are we to do
in this snowstorm, with night coming on, and so far from Oak Hall
without skates?"
"Humph! I guess we'll have to walk," grumbled the story-teller of the
school. "But that will take time, and if this storm keeps up----"
"We'll be snowed under!" finished Chip Macklin.
"Well, no use in staying here," came from two of the students.
"That is just what I say," said Dave. "Those skate marks lead down the
river and that is the way we want to go. By following them we'll be
getting nearer to the Hall and at the same time closer to the fellows
who took our things."
"We'll never catch those fellows," grumbled Ben. "They can skate five
times as fast as we can walk."
"Never mind, we'll go after 'em anyway," replied Gus. "And if we catch
'em----" He did not finish in words but brought his right fist down hard
into his left palm, which left no doubt as to how he intended to treat
the thieves.
"Maybe it's a trick, of some of the Rockville cadets," suggested Buster,
when the crowd were on their way down the river.
"Say, don't you remember my saying I thought I saw somebody near the
camp, just before we went away?" burst out Ben. "You all thought I was
mistaken."
"Well, I reckon you were not mistaken," answered Dave. "It's a great
pity we didn't investigate more before leaving."
"No use in crying over spilt milk," said Sam.
"Which puts me in mind of a sto----" commenced Shadow, and then suddenly
stopped talking and commenced to whistle to himself.
"Say, boys, if anybody should ask you, you can tell him it is snowing
some," puffed Buster, who was struggling to keep up with those in front.
"If it wasn't that we were on the river, it would be easy to lose our
way."
"That's true," replied Dave. "The snow seems to be coming down heavier
every minute."
"Yes, and the wind is coming up," added Roger. "We'll have a hard time
of it reaching the Hall. We'll never do it by supper-time."
"Then where are we going to get something to eat?" demanded Buster. "I'm
not going without my supper just because I can't get back."
"Perhaps we can get something at some farmhouse," suggested Phil.
"I've got an idea!" cried Dave. "Why can't we get some farmer to hook up
a carriage or a sleigh and take us to the Hall that way?"
"Hurrah, just the cheese!" cried Ben, who did not relish walking such a
distance. "The thing is, though, to find the farmer," he continued
soberly.
"Keep your eyes open for lights," suggested Dave, and this was done.
A quarter of a mile more was covered, the students hugging the north
shore of the stream, as that afforded the most shelter from the rising
wind. Then Roger gave a cry.
"I think I saw a light through the snow! Just look that way, fellows,
and see if I am right."
All gazed in the direction indicated, and presently three of the boys
made out a glimmer, as if it came from a lantern being swung to and fro.
Then the light disappeared.
"Perhaps it's some farmer going out to care for his cattle," said Dave.
"Let us walk over and see," and this was done.
Dave was correct in his surmise, and soon the boys approached a big
cow-shed, through a window of which they saw the faint rays of a
lantern. Just as they did this they heard a voice cry out in wonder.
"What be you fellers a-doin' in my cow-shed?"
"Oh, we just came in to rest out of the storm," was the answer, in a
voice that sounded strangely familiar to Dave. "We are not going to hurt
your shed any, or the cattle either."
"It's Mallory, of Rockville!" whispered Dave to his fellow students,
naming the cadet who was the star hockey player of the military academy
team.
"And Bazen and Holt are with him," added Phil, gazing through a
partly-open doorway, and naming two other Rockville cadets.
"Hello, who's out there?" cried the owner of the cow-shed, and, lantern
in hand, he turned to survey the newcomers.
"Why, it's Mr. Opper!" cried Sam. "Don't you remember me? I called last
summer, to see some of your young lady boarders."
"Oh, yes, I remember you," replied Homer Opper. "You hired my dappled
mare for a ride."
"That's it, Mr. Opper. Say, that mare could go."
"Go? Ain't no hossflesh in these parts kin beat her," cried the farmer
proudly. "She won the prize at the last county fair, she did! But wot
brung ye here, sech a night as this?" added Homer Opper curiously.
"Hello, Porter, old man!" cried Mallory, rising from a box on which he
had been seated and shaking hands. "Caught in the storm, too, eh?"
"Yes," answered Dave. He gazed curiously at the Rockville cadet and his
companions. "Been up the river?"
"Not any further than this."
"Hunting?"
"No, skating. We would be going back, only Holt broke one of his skates
and that delayed us. Been out hunting, eh? Any luck?"
"Some--good and bad. We shot some rabbits, squirrels, and partridges, and
we likewise had our hamper, our skates, an overcoat, and some other
things stolen."
"Stolen!" cried Homer Opper. "By gum, thet's tough luck! Who tuk the
things?"
"That is what we want to find out," and as Dave spoke he looked sharply
at Mallory and the other Rockville cadets.
"Not guilty," came promptly from Bazen. "Honest Injun, Porter, if you
think we touched your things, you are on the wrong track; isn't that so,
fellows?"
"It is," came promptly from Mallory and Holt. Then suddenly the star
hockey player of Rockville Academy let out a long, low whistle of
surprise.
"You know something?" demanded Dave.
"Maybe I do," was Mallory's slow answer. "Yes, I am sure I do," he
added. "You can put the puzzle together yourself if you wish,
Porter--because, you see, I hate to accuse anybody."
"What do you know?"
"I know this: Less than an hour ago we met two fellows on the river, one
with a hamper and the other with a bundle that looked as if it was done
up in an overcoat turned inside out. We came on the fellows rather
suddenly, at a turn where there were some bushes."
"Our stuff, as sure as you're a foot high!" cried Phil.
"Who were the fellows, do you know?" demanded the senator's son.
At this question Mallory looked at Holt and Bazen.
"I wasn't exactly sure, but----" He hesitated to go on.
"I was sure enough," chimed in Holt. "They were those chaps who came to
our school from Oak Hall and then ran away--Jasniff and Merwell. How
about it, Tom?"
"I think they were Jasniff and Merwell," answered Tom Bazen. "To be
sure, as soon as they saw us, they skated away as fast as they could,
and kept their faces hidden. But if they weren't Jasniff and Merwell
they were pretty good doubles."
"Jasniff and Merwell," murmured Dave, and his heart sank a little. Here
was more underhanded work of his old enemies.
The farmer and the Rockville cadets were anxious to hear the particulars
of the happening, and the Oak Hall lads told of what had occurred.
"I know those chaps," said Homer Opper. "They stayed here one night last
summer. But they cut up so the boarders didn't like it, so my wife told
'em she didn't have no room for 'em, an' they left. They ought to be
locked up."
"They will be locked up, if we can lay hands on them," replied Phil.
"They must have followed us to Squirrel Island, and spied on us," said
Shadow. "Ben, you were right about seeing somebody. It must have been
either Merwell or Jasniff."
"Have you any idea where they went?" asked the shipowner's son.
"No, they skated away behind an island and that's the last we saw of
them," answered Mallory.
"Yes, and I reckon it's the last we'll hear of our things," returned
Buster, mournfully. "But come on, let us see about getting back," he
continued. "It's 'most time for supper now."
"Mr. Opper, can you take us back to Oak Hall?" asked Dave. "We'll pay
you for your trouble."
The farmer looked at the students and rubbed his chin reflectively. Then
he gazed out at the storm and the snow-covered ground.
"Might hook up my big sleigh and do it," he said. "But it would be quite
a job."
"What would it be worth?" asked Ben.
"Oh, I dunno--three or four dollars, at least. It's a tough night to be
out in--an' I'd have to drive back, or put up at the town all night."
"Supposing we gave you fifty cents apiece," suggested Roger.
"And we'll go along--as far as Rockville, at the same price--if you'll
have us," added Mallory, quickly.
"Why, yes, Mallory, and welcome," answered Dave cordially. "That is, if
the turnout will hold us all."
"Sure it will," answered Homer Opper. "An' if ye all go an' pay fifty
cents each,"--he counted them mentally as he spoke--"I'll hook up my four
hosses an' git ye there in jig time."
"Then it's a go," answered Dave, after his chums and the Rockville
cadets had nodded their approval.
"And do hurry," called out Buster, as the farmer moved away to prepare
for the journey. "We don't want to miss our suppers."
"Ye ain't goin' to miss nuthin'," called the farmer.
Inside of fifteen minutes he came around to the cow-shed with a big, low
sleigh, to which were attached four fine-looking horses. The sleigh
contained two lanterns and a quantity of wraps and robes.
"Don't want ye to catch cold, when we're a-drivin' fast," chuckled Homer
Opper. "Now pile right in, an' we'll be movin'."
The boys needed no second invitation, and soon all were aboard--Dave and
Roger on the front seat with the driver and the others behind, including
the Rockville cadets. Then came a crack of the whip, and away through
the swirling snow moved the big sleigh, bound for the two schools.