AT THE RAILROAD STATION
"See anybody, Sam?"
"Nobody that looks like that man, Spud, but there is Mr. Sanderson's
horse with the cutter."
"Yes, I spotted those right away. Look how the poor nag is heaving. He
must have been driven almost to death."
"That may be. Although we got here almost as quickly as he did. But he
may have been used quite some before this trip," returned Sam; and this
surmise was correct.
The two boys, with the policeman, had done their best to catch the
departing train and have it stop, but without avail. When they had
reached the depot the last of the cars was well down the line, and soon
the train had disappeared around a curve of the roadbed.
"What's the matter, Ike? What are you after?" queried the freight agent,
as he came up to the policeman.
"We are after the man who was driving that cutter yonder," explained
Sam. "Did you see him--a big fellow with a heavy overcoat and with a fur
cap pulled down over his forehead?"
"Why yes, I saw that fellow get aboard," answered the freight agent. "I
was wondering what he was going to do with his horse. He didn't even
stop to put a blanket over the animal."
"That fellow was a thief," explained Sam. "I wonder if we can't have him
captured in some way? What is the next station the train will stop at?"
"Penton."
"How far is that from here?"
"About six miles."
"And after that?"
"She'll stop at Leadenfield, which is about six miles farther."
"Then I'll send a telegram to Penton and another to Leadenfield to have
the train searched and the man arrested if he can be spotted," said Sam;
and a few minutes later he was in the telegraph office writing out the
messages. He described the man as well as he could, but realized that
his efforts were rather hopeless.
"Maybe Songbird could give us a better description," he said to his
chum; "but as Songbird isn't here, and as we can't get him on the
telephone, we'll have to do the best we can."
The policeman was, of course, anxious to know some of the details of
what had occurred, and when the boys told him that their college chum
had been knocked senseless and robbed of four thousand dollars he was
greatly surprised.
"It's too bad you didn't get here before the train started," he
observed. "If you had we might have nabbed that rascal and maybe got a
reward," and he smiled grimly.
"We don't want any reward. We simply want to get that four thousand
dollars back," returned Sam. "And we would like to put that fellow in
prison for the way he treated our college chum."
"What will you do with the horse and cutter?"
"If there is a livery stable handy, I think I'll put the horse up
there," answered Sam. "He is evidently in no condition to be driven
farther at present. I'll notify Mr. Sanderson about it." And so it was
arranged.
A little while later, after the two boys had walked around to the police
station with the officer and given such particulars as they were able
concerning the assault and robbery, Sam and Spud started on the return
to the Bray farmhouse. When they arrived there, they found that Dr.
Havens and Dr. Wallington had come in some time before. By the
directions of the head of Brill the physician from Ashton had given
Songbird a thorough examination and had treated him with some medicine
from his case.
"The cut on his head is rather a deep one," said the doctor to the boys,
"but fortunately it is not serious, nor will there be any bad effects
from the blow on his chin. He can thank his stars though that the crack
on his head did not fracture his skull."
"We are going to take him back to Brill in a large sleigh," said Dr.
Wallington, "and then I think the best he can do will be to go to bed."
"Oh, I can't do that!" broke in Songbird, who was still on the couch,
propped up by pillows. "I've got to get to Mr. Sanderson's and explain
how the thing happened."
"You had better let me do that, Songbird," answered Sam, kindly. "I can
drive over there and Spud can go with me. You just let us know exactly
how it occurred." This, of course, was after the boys had related the
particulars of their failure to catch the fleeing criminal at
Dentonville.
"It happened so quickly that I hardly realized what was taking place,"
answered the would-be poet of Brill. "I was driving along from
Knoxbury, where I had been to the bank for Mr. Sanderson, when I came to
the spot where I suppose you found me. Just as I reached there a man in
a heavy overcoat, and with a thick fur cap pulled over his face so that
I could hardly see him, stepped in front of the cutter.
"'Say! can you tell me where these people live?' he asked me, and thrust
a sheet of paper towards me. 'I've lost my eye-glasses, and I can't see
to read without them.'
"I took the paper he handed out and started to look at some writing on
it which was very indistinct. As I bent over the paper the man swung a
club or something in the air and struck me on the head. Then, as I tried
to leap up and defend myself, he hit me another blow on the chin. That
seemed to knock me clean out of the cutter; and that is all I know about
it."
"Then you don't know where that fellow came from?" queried Spud.
"No more than that he came from the bushes beside the road." Songbird
seemed to meditate for a moment. "Now I come to think of it though,
maybe that's the same fellow that watched me go into the bank at
Knoxbury and get the money for Mr. Sanderson!" he cried, suddenly.
"It was a very unwise move on Mr. Sanderson's part to have you get that
money for him in cash," observed Dr. Wallington. "I do not understand
why he could not have transacted his business with a check, especially
if it was certified."
"I don't know much about that part of it," answered Songbird, "excepting
he told me that the old man with whom he was doing business was
something of a crank and didn't believe in banks or checks, and said he
wanted nothing but solid cash. It's a pity now that Mr. Sanderson didn't
use a check," and Songbird heaved a deep sigh.
"But what did you just say about a man watching you when you went into
the bank?" questioned Sam.
"Oh, I noticed that fellow hanging around the building just as I went
in," returned Songbird. "He was asking the janitor about the trains out
of town, and the reason I noticed him was because he had a peculiar
stutter and whistle when he talked. He went like this," and Songbird
imitated a man who was stuttering badly, ending in a faint whistle.
"Great Scott! A fellow ought to know a man who talked like that
anywhere," was Spud's comment. "Should be able to pick him out in the
dark," and at this sally even Dr. Wallington smiled faintly.
"Of course I'm not sure that that man had anything to do with it," went
on Songbird. "But he was the only fellow around who seemed to notice me
when I got the money. When the bills were passed over to me, there were
forty one-hundred-dollar bills. I took them to a little side stand, to
place them in a wallet Mr. Sanderson had lent me, and then I wrapped the
wallet in a piece of paper with a stout string around it. As I did this
I noticed the man who stuttered and whistled peering at me hungrily
through a side window of the bank."
"And the fellow wore a heavy overcoat and a fur cap?" questioned Sam.
"Yes, I am sure of that."
"Then it is more than likely he was the guilty party," remarked Spud.
"But hold on a minute!" broke in Sam. "You got the money at Knoxbury,
and this attack took place on the road above here, which is at least
seven miles from that place. Now, if the man who did the deed was at the
bank when you drew the money, how did he get here in time to hold you
up?"
"I don't know about that, Sam; but I didn't leave Knoxbury immediately
after getting the money. I had an errand to do for Minnie. She wanted
me to pick out a--er--a necktie for my birthday, and I--well, I looked
around two or three stores, trying to find something nice to take back
to her. I bought two books of poetry, but I don't know where they are
now."
"We found them on the road, and they are out in the cutter," answered
Sam. "Spud, you might bring them in and give them to Songbird."
"The errands kept me in town for about half an hour after I was at the
bank," continued the youth who had been attacked.
"And where had you left Mr. Sanderson's cutter in the meantime?"
"Right in front of the bank building, the horse tied to a post."
"That would give the man time to get another turnout in which to follow
you," said Sam.
"But if he did that, I don't see how he got ahead of you."
"Well, maybe he didn't, and maybe it was some one else who did the
deed," returned Sam.
"You had better not worry your head too much about this affair, Mr.
Powell," said Dr. Havens. "That crack on the head might have been more
serious, but at the same time you ought to take care of yourself for a
day or two at least."
"Then you don't think I ought to go to Mr. Sanderson's?" queried the
would-be poet of the college.
"Not just yet. If you feel stronger you might go there to-morrow, or the
day after."
"Then will you go, Sam, and try to explain matters?" questioned
Songbird, eagerly.
"Of course I'll go, Songbird."
"And I'll go with him," added Spud.
A large sleigh had been brought to the farmhouse by Dr. Wallington, and
Songbird was placed in this and made as comfortable as possible among
the robes and blankets which it contained. Mr. Bray, the owner of the
farm, had been up in the timber bringing down some firewood, and now,
when he approached, the others saw that he had tied behind his sled an
extra horse.
"Hello! Where did that horse come from?" cried Sam. "Is it yours?"
"No, 'tain't mine," said Timothy Bray. "I found it up in the woods right
near the road yonder," and he pointed with his hand as he spoke.
"Found that horse in the woods!" cried Spud. "Then that explains it."
"It sure does," returned Sam.
"Explains what?" demanded Timothy Bray. "What's goin' on down here
anyway?" he continued, looking at his wife and then at the others.
"Oh, Timothy! an awful thing has happened!" cried Mrs. Bray, and then
she and the others gave the farmer a few of the particulars. He listened
with mouth wide open, and then looked at the horse which he had found.
"I guess you are right!" he exclaimed. "That feller got this horse in
Knoxbury. It's one that belongs to Hoover, the livery stable man. I know
him on account of this brand on his left flank. It's a horse Cy Tamen
used to own and swapped for a bay mare."
"Then I think that explains it," declared Sam. "That rascal saw Songbird
get the money, and he at once went to the livery stable and hired the
horse and followed Songbird to the spot where the attack was made. More
than likely he passed Songbird on the road."
"That's just what he did!" cried the youth who had been struck down. "I
remember now! I was busy composing some poetry when I noticed a fellow
on horseback go past me and disappear around a turn in the road, and
that was just a few minutes before that fellow came up with a sheet of
paper, and knocked me senseless."
"I believe you have made out a pretty clear case," was Dr. Wallington's
comment. "Now if we can only reach that man who stuttered and whistled,
I think we shall have the culprit."
"We telephoned ahead from Dentonville. If they can only locate him on
the train it will be all right," answered Sam. "But you must remember we
didn't have very much of a description to go by."
"Yes, and that fellow may be fixed to change his appearance a good
deal," added Spud. "A man isn't going to get his hands on four thousand
dollars without doing all he possibly can to get away with it,
especially when he knows that if he is caught he will be sent to
prison."
"What am I going to do with this horse?" questioned Timothy Bray.
"You had better keep that animal in your stable until the livery man
from Knoxbury calls for him," answered Dr. Wallington.
"He'll have to pay me for doing it," was Mr. Bray's reply. "Every time I
go to Knoxbury, Hoover charges me an outrageous price for putting up at
his stable, and now I can get even with him," and he chuckled over the
thought.