"HONOR TO WHOM HONOR IS DUE"
"Don't believe him, Frank; George is bluffing, that's all!"
"It's becoming a habit with him; we were just talking of sousing him in
a creek as we came along, to break him off!" exclaimed another of the
runners.
"It's the old cry of 'wolf' and this time the beast has come, for I saw
a head stick out from behind a tree myself!" cried Molly Manners.
"Where? Which tree, Molly? Take care what you say, or there'll be two
in the swim before long!" came an excited chorus.
"Look for yourself, ninnies--just as George said, there's a man behind
that big sycamore; don't you see his head moving?" demanded the accused
one.
"It's true, fellows; I can see him now!" came from Ben Cloud.
"Yes, and I caught sight of the other back of that oak. Oh! say, what
shall we do about it?" asked a slender chap, who looked considerably
alarmed.
Frank laughed, and so heartily that the others stared at him, wondering
what he could see about the affair to make it seem comical. To them it
was a decidedly serious matter.
"History loves to repeat itself, fellows; you know that. On that other
night, after Lanky and myself had been presented with that horse
and buggy, you remember we were ourselves held up on the road?" he
remarked, presently.
"Yes, but it turned out to be by friends!" declared one of the quaking
boys.
"Well, once again our guardian angel seems to be hovering near, to show
up on the scene just after the battle is won. Watch now, and see," and
elevating his voice Frank shouted:
"Hello! there, Chief Hogg, come this way, for we've got something nice
for you!"
"Chief Hogg!" ejaculated George.
"It is, for a fact! What do you think of that, fellows? Talk about
habit, our gallant police force seem to have fallen into one. When the
smoke of battle clears away, just as Frank says, they always bob up on
the ground to claim the spoils!" and the relieved Molly Manners struck
a dramatic attitude to indicate disgust.
There was no longer any doubt about the fact. The two men in hiding had
shown themselves now, and were hastening toward the group of runners
in the cross-country hare and hounds chase.
And the jovial face of the chief was too well known to every lad in
Columbia not to be readily recognized now.
It bore a look of mingled wonder and dismay now. The chief wanted to
capture those two desperate rascals badly, but he had hoped to have the
credit of doing so himself. If this sort of thing kept on the citizens
of Columbia would be talking of dismissing the present force and
employing a few youngsters instead.
"Hello! boys! What's been going on here? Seems to me you've been taking
high-handed action. And unless my eyes deceive me, these gents must be
the much-wanted chaps from Fordham way, unless the description I had
over the 'phone was all wrong. Now, tell me all about it, Frank."
Chief Hogg seemed to take it for granted that Frank must be the leading
figure in the wonderful event. Perhaps he based his conclusion on
general principles, knowing the boy as well as he did. Then again Frank
was the only one not in running togs, and his appearance suggested that
he had been in some sort of rumpus.
"Oh, there's little to tell. I was on an errand for my father up Squire
Prentice's way, and on the road back these fellows captured me, after a
little tussle. The coming of the boys put another face on the matter,
and we succeeded in turning the tables on Martin and Joey. That's all,"
said Frank, shortly.
"The fact that you mention those names tells me you must be sure about
the men, eh, Frank?" questioned the officer, smiling broadly now, and
patting Frank on the back.
"They admitted as much," said the other quickly. "In fact, it was
because I fooled them about that empty bag that they had it in for me,
they said. And you'll laugh when I tell you just what they were talking
of doing; planning to make a visit to headquarters this very night,
holding up the lone officer left in charge, and looting the safe, in
the belief that the jewelry was still kept there."
"Good gracious! they must be desperate cases!" exclaimed Molly,
shivering as he drew a little further away from the bound men.
"They must have been joshing you, Frank!" remarked one of the other
lads.
"Don't you believe it," said the head of the Columbia police force,
soberly, as he stared in the sneering faces of the two prisoners; "from
all accounts they're capable of doing anything along that line. It
would have been a rough deal, though, and I'd got the laugh from every
other police chief in the State. Frank, I owe you another bunch of
thanks for this. You're a darling, for a fact!"
"'Some men are born great, and others have greatness thrust upon them.'
Frank is midway between the two," remarked Molly Manners, solemnly.
"So say we all of us!" echoed the bunch in concert, raising their hands
after the manner of a witness in court.
"Thanks, fellows! You overwhelm me," laughed the object of this
demonstration.
"Well, boys, are you ready to turn these chaps over to the majesty of
the law?" asked Chief Hogg, with a grin.
"Take them, and welcome, sir. Some of us want to chase off on our game,
as we've already lost enough time. But remember that every mother's
son expects to see his name chiseled in the annals of Columbia, to be
handed down to posterity as shining examples of the modern hero!" cried
Molly.
"Hear! hear! That's the stuff! Frank isn't going to monopolize all the
glory in this affair! When he won out in that last baseball game he had
eight husky fellows back of him; now he has an even dozen. Come on you
hounds; let's get busy and take up the paper trail!"
And so the majority of the runners started off again. They looked back
once or twice rather wistfully, and waved their hands to Frank, as
though, truth to tell, all of them would much rather have given up the
game for the day and accompanied the procession into town.
Boylike they sighed to be in the limelight, to hear the ejaculations
of astonishment that would arise when the citizens learned what had
happened, and discover the admiring eyes of the pretty girls of
Columbia fastened upon them. It does not fall to the lot of the average
lad to shine as a hero more than once in a lifetime; and they begrudged
losing the opportunity.
Frank, together with Molly Manners, and another boy who had become
winded and was unable to continue the chase over field and hill,
accompanied Chief Hogg and his man when they walked the two prisoners
into town.
Of course the police had taken the bonds off the men, and substituted
shining steel bracelets that were more apt to appear business-like.
Martin and Joey were hardened characters. They doubtless felt keenly
their condition, yet tried to appear utterly indifferent, sneering as
they bandied words with their guards.
And in this way they drew into the outskirts of Columbia. People
flocked out of houses to stare, and make all manner of comments.
The presence of Frank with his bicycle seemed to be taken as evidence
that he must have had something to do with the capture of the men.
Everybody jumped at the proper conclusion with regard to the identity
of the prisoners; for the recent robbery at Fordham had been a matter
of universal knowledge; as was also the meeting on the highway between
the robbers and two of the town boys.
"Hello! Frank, what you been doing now?" called one admiring student of
the high school, as he stared at the little procession.
"What's all this mean?" asked a voice Frank knew full well, since it
belonged to his own father, who came out of the drug store at the
corner, and surveyed the crowd with astonishment.
Frank immediately turned aside.
"See you later, Chief; and if you want me as a witness about anything,
you know where to find me," he said, in a low tone, and accompanying
his words with a smile.
"Mr. Allen, you'll have to look after that boy of yours!" called the
officer, as he halted a minute and nodded to the merchant.
"What do you mean, Chief?" asked the puzzled gentleman.
"He's bound to beat me out of my job. Not satisfied with recovering
all the loot that was taken from that Fordham store, he's just gone
and captured the two desperate ruffians responsible for the robbery!"
declared the chief; while Frank held up his hand, and shook his head in
protest.
"Why, my boy, is it possible?" exclaimed Mr. Allen, with deep feeling,
as he grasped Frank's hand.
"Hurrah for Frank Allen, the pride of Columbia!" yelled a boy; and a
series of shouts broke loose that caused every person within a block to
run to their front doors to see what sort of procession was coming down
the street.
"Please come along; I'll tell you all about it as we go home, dad, but
it isn't quite as bad as that. I had help, and considerable of it too,
or things might have been different from what they turned out. Say, you
fellows, give a cheer for George Hastings, Molly Manners, Sandy Douglas
and the rest of the bunch who helped get these two chaps. They deserve
it more than I do!"
Leaving the crowd talking excitedly at this new development, Frank
walked away with his father. Mr. Allen was burning with eagerness to
hear what it was all about, and hence Frank had to tell the story, from
the moment he found his wheel slipping at that spot on the road where
the water from the spring overlapped it.
And when he had finished by giving most of the praise to the valiant
sons of Columbia High who had appeared just in the nick of time,
the gentleman squeezed his hand again and again, while there was a
suspicious moisture in his eyes as he said:
"I consider myself a most fortunate man to have a boy so capable of
looking out for himself. And Frank, your mother will share my pride
when she hears about this thing. But make as light of it as you can,
son, because it will frighten her to know that you have been in serious
danger." And Frank readily agreed, for he had been himself considering
that very thing.