THE ROUND-UP—CONCLUSION
“Oh, Dave, do you think——” began Jessie in a low voice, when a look of
warning from our hero stopped her.
“You can’t fool us!” cried Nick Jasniff, after a moment of silence. “Are
you coming down, or shall I come up and bring you down?”
To this none of those in the tree replied. All kept silent, scarcely
daring to breathe. Jessie was clinging to Dave’s arm, and Roger had a
protecting hand on Laura’s shoulder. Each of the young civil engineers
had his pistol ready for any emergency which might arise. They heard a
movement below as if either Nick Jasniff or one of the gypsies was
starting to climb the tree.
“Oh, don’t let them come up here!” whispered Laura, unable to remain
silent longer.
“Yes, yes, make them stay on the ground!” breathed Jessie.
“Stop where you are!” cried Dave in stern tones. “Don’t you dare come a
foot closer if you value your life.”
“Don’t you shoot me!” exclaimed Nick Jasniff.
“Then you get back on the ground, Jasniff, just as quick as you can,”
answered Roger. “We won’t stand any more of your nonsense!” and at these
words Nick Jasniff lost no time in dropping out of the tree.
The gypsies and the fellow who had escaped from prison began to talk
among themselves, but in such a low tone of voice that those in the tree
could not make out what was being said.
“What do you suppose they’ll do next?” questioned Jessie anxiously.
“They’ll try to get us down somehow; but I’m not going,” answered Roger
stubbornly.
“But they may keep us up here all night—or even longer!” returned Laura.
“Are you going to give in or not?” demanded Nick Jasniff in a loud tone
of voice.
“I don’t see why we should give in,” answered Dave.
“You’ll have to do it, Porter, sooner or later. Can’t you see that we’ve
got the bulge on you? If you don’t give in now, we’ll keep you up in
that tree until you change your mind. The best thing you can do is to
drop your pistols and give yourselves up. If you’ll do that we’ll
promise to treat you well and let you go as soon as we receive that
ransom we are expecting.”
“We don’t intend to give in,” answered Dave, after a few words with
Roger.
“All right then, we’ll let it go at that—for the present,” answered Nick
Jasniff. “I think you’ll change your tune after you have spent a night
in that tree and are good and hungry,” he added cunningly. “And let me
tell you, if anybody tries to escape he’ll get shot.”
After that there was a long period of silence. Evidently some of the
gypsies had moved away, but it was more than likely that the others were
keeping on guard in the vicinity of the tree. What had become of Nick
Jasniff those who were concealed among the branches could not surmise.
It must be confessed that Dave and those with him were in a great
quandary. They did not wish to remain in the tree indefinitely, and yet
to make another break for liberty might be decidedly perilous.
The best part of an hour passed, and then Dave and the others heard some
of the gypsies calling to each other.
“Dobado is back, and he has news!” they heard some one cry.
“Did they find Carmenaldo?” asked another voice.
“They did not.”
“Perhaps that half-witted fool has gone back on us,” came in the voice
of Nick Jasniff. “I said it wouldn’t be wise to let that fellow into the
game.”
“Carmenaldo is all right. He can be trusted,” answered the voice of
Mother Domoza. She was an aunt to the half-witted gypsy and she did not
like to have any one speak ill of him.
Then began a hurried consultation among the gypsies, and the whole crowd
moved down in the direction of the tree in which our friends were
hiding.
“Ha, you are a pack of cowards not to get them out of the tree!” cried
Mother Domoza. “Had I the strength to climb, I’d get them out
single-handed.”
“We’d bring them down quick enough, were it not that they are armed,”
answered Tony Bopeppo.
There was a warm discussion, the old gypsy woman urging the men to go up
into the tree and bring down our hero and the others.
In the midst of the discussion Dave heard a sound which thrilled him to
the heart. Far off from the direction of the main road between Frytown
and Cullomburg came the honk of an automobile horn twice repeated.
“Roger, did you hear that?” he cried in a low voice. “Listen!” and a
moment later the double honk was repeated.
“Why, it sounds like the horn on your auto!” exclaimed the senator’s
son.
“That’s just what it is! And didn’t you hear—it sounded out twice in
rapid succession? Listen! there it goes again! That’s the signal from my
Uncle Dunston!”
“Oh, Dave! can it be Uncle Dunston?” exclaimed his sister.
“That’s just who it is!” he answered, great relief showing itself in his
voice. “I’m going to answer back!” and pulling out his pistol, Dave
fired two shots in the air in rapid succession.
“Hi! hi! what are you doing?” roared a voice from below. “Don’t you dare
to shoot at us!”
“We are not shooting at you,” answered Dave quick-wittedly. “I am trying
my pistol to see that it is in good order.”
“Huh, you’ll get no chance to use that pistol on us,” growled Nick
Jasniff.
All in the tree paid but scant attention to what was said below. They
were listening intently. An instant later came two more honks from the
distant automobile.
“Give them two more shots, Roger!” cried our hero. “I’m going up to the
top of the tree to look around,” and he began to climb with vigor.
From the top of the tree Dave could get a fairly good view of the
surroundings. He soon made out the little side-road and the point where
it ran into the main highway. Then he spotted an automobile containing
four or five men. Another auto was on the main highway but a short
distance away.
Standing on the topmost branch of the tree and holding fast with one
hand, Dave waved his cap with the other and then fired two more shots
from his pistol. Those in the automobile were evidently on the alert,
and a second later our hero saw that his signal had been seen. One man
jumped up in the front automobile and waved his arms, and then the
automobile moved forward rapidly up the little side-road.
“They have seen us, and they are coming in this direction!” cried Dave,
as he lowered himself to where the others rested in the tree. “I’ll give
them another signal, so that they won’t go astray,” and a few seconds
later two more shots rent the air.
“Hi, you! what are you doing up there, anyway?” came uneasily from Nick
Jasniff.
“An automobile is coming!” came in a yell from a distance. “An
automobile with a number of men in it!”
“We’ve been betrayed!” added another of the gypsies. “We must run for it
or we’ll be captured!”
“The automobile! Why can not we ride away in the automobile?” asked
Mother Domoza, in sudden panic.
“We can’t use it! That other auto will block the road!” answered Nick
Jasniff.
By this time a shouting was heard from the narrow roadway as the first
automobile came closer, quickly followed by the second car.
“Hello, Uncle Dunston! is that you?” yelled Dave at the top of his
lungs.
“Yes, Dave!” came the answering cry. “Where are you?”
“We are all here in a tree in the woods,” answered Roger.
“Are the girls safe?”
“Yes,” returned Dave. “Never mind us—go after those gypsies and after
Nick Jasniff.”
“We’ll do that all right enough!” answered Dunston Porter.
“They are the kidnappers, don’t let them get away!” yelled Roger.
The men who had accompanied Dunston Porter needed no further urging.
They knew many of the particulars concerning the case, and had been
promised a large reward if they would give their aid in rounding up the
kidnappers and saving the two girls. One man was a local constable, and
two were detectives, while the others were men who had been picked up in
the town and pressed into service because of their strength and
willingness to fight. The whole crowd leaped from the automobiles and
lost no time in giving chase to the fleeing criminals.
“I’m going to join in this hunt, Roger!” exclaimed Dave. And then he
added to the two girls: “You had better remain where you are until we
come back.”
He dropped out of the tree just in time to see his Uncle Dunston making
after one of the gypsies and Nick Jasniff. Several shots were fired,
which, however, took no effect, and then the criminals dived out of
sight between a number of trees.
Dave’s blood was up, and he made up his mind that Nick Jasniff should be
captured if it were possible to do so. Roger had followed him out of the
tree, and now both made after the rascal who had escaped from prison.
“You get back! Don’t you dare to follow me!” howled Jasniff, and
flourished a revolver at them. He pulled the trigger, but the weapon
failed to go off, and then the rascal continued to run.
“We ought to shoot him!” exclaimed the senator’s son.
But as he spoke he saw Nick Jasniff trip over a tree root and go
sprawling. Before the fellow could arise, Dave was on him. Jasniff tried
to catch our hero by the throat, and in return received a blow in the
chin which all but stunned him.
That the chase after the fleeing gypsies was going on in earnest was
testified to by the sounds coming from various quarters of the woods on
the mountainside. Exclamations and cries rent the air, punctuated every
now and then by a pistol shot or the discharge of a shotgun. One of the
gypsy men was hit in the leg and fell, and Mother Domoza received part
of a charge of shot in her right hand.
“We’ll disarm him and tie his hands behind him,” said Dave to Roger,
referring to Jasniff. And despite the protests of the fellow who had
escaped from prison this was speedily done. Then Jasniff was marched
along to the foot of the tree in which the girls were hiding, and there
Roger stood guard over him, while Dave assisted Jessie and his sister to
the ground.
In less than half an hour the impromptu fight came to a finish. Mother
Domoza and three of the leading gypsies had been captured. The others
had escaped into the mountains, but a posse was organized, and all of
them were rounded up inside of twenty-four hours.
“Oh, Uncle Dunston, I am so glad to see you!” cried Laura, when the
uncle put in an appearance.
“And I am glad, too!” exclaimed Jessie.
“Are either of you hurt?” questioned Dunston Porter quickly.
“No, not in the least,” answered the daughter of the jewelry
manufacturer. “But we have been horribly frightened.”
“You didn’t pay the gypsies or Jasniff any reward, did you?” questioned
Dave quickly.
“No, Dave; although we might have done so if we hadn’t got the word that
you sent by telephone.”
As far as our friends went, it was a happy little party that gathered in
the bungalow a short while after. The girls were inclined to be somewhat
hysterical, and the young men and Dunston Porter did all they could to
quiet them.
“As soon as I discovered your automobile in the bushes I knew that you
must be somewhere in this vicinity,” explained Dunston Porter. “We had
come in to Frytown from Crandall less than an hour before.”
“But how did you get to Crandall so quickly?” questioned Roger.
“As soon as I got word from Dave I set the wires to working, and through
the authorities had the Boston Express stop both at Crumville and
Crandall, so that brought us up here in no time.”
“Did you see that fellow we had tied to the tree?” questioned Dave.
“Oh, yes, I found him directly after I located your auto. I tried to get
something out of him, but he seemed a bit off in his mind. Then I
remembered that signal you had spoken about and used it on the auto
horn.”
“Oh, won’t I be glad to get back to Crumville!” murmured Jessie.
“That’s right,” answered Laura. “I don’t think we want to make that trip
to Boston just now. I want to get home and see the rest of the folks.”
* * * * *
And now let me add a few words more and then bring this story of “Dave
Porter’s Great Search” to a close.
The whole party found themselves that night at the Bliss House in
Crandall, where they would have to remain until morning. Word had been
sent to Crumville, and it can well be imagined how happy those at home
were when they received the glad tidings that the girls were safe and
that those who had kidnapped them had been captured.
“Oh, Dave, it was simply wonderful how you and Roger got on the trail of
Jasniff and those awful gypsies!” remarked Jessie, in talking the matter
over.
“It was certainly very clever work,” put in Laura. “I think I’ll have to
have medals of honor struck off for both of you”; and this remark
brought a happy laugh all around.
The criminals had been taken in charge by the authorities, and the
following day found them safe behind the bars. It may be added here that
later on all of the gypsies, including Mother Domoza, were tried and
sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. Nick Jasniff was returned to
the prison from which he had escaped.
“He’ll have to serve his old sentence over again,” explained Dunston
Porter. “After he has finished with that, they will probably try him for
this kidnapping affair, so that it’s likely he will not mingle with
honest people for a good many years to come.”
On being taken to prison, Jasniff was closely questioned and finally
gave the particulars of how he had stolen the battered touring-car, come
to Crumville in disguise, learned that the girls were going to take the
trip to Boston, and arranged with the gypsies to do the kidnapping.
“Oh, what a misspent life!” was Laura’s comment.
“Well, he has no one to blame for it but himself,” was Roger’s blunt
reply.
The home-coming of the two girls, accompanied by Dave, Roger and Dunston
Porter, was made a gala occasion at Crumville. Many of their friends
were on hand to greet them, and Mrs. Wadsworth shed tears of joy when
she embraced her daughter and Laura.
“I shall never forget what you have done,” said Mr. Wadsworth to Dave
and Roger. “It was grand—simply grand!” and he wiped the moisture from
his eyes.
“I knew Davy would do it,” quavered Caspar Potts, nodding his head over
and over again. “He’s a great boy—my Davy is!”
As for Dave’s father, the man could hardly speak, but the way he grasped
his son’s hand spoke volumes.
The two young civil engineers could not resist the temptation to send a
so-called night letter over the wires to those at the construction camp
in Montana, telling of what had been accomplished and stating that they
would soon be back at work. This message caused even Ralph Obray to
become enthusiastic.
“They are certainly great boys,” he said to Frank Andrews.
“The finest lads we have in camp,” answered the other. “I’m certainly
glad they joined us. Some day they’ll make their mark.”
“I believe you!”
Now that the young civil engineers had found the two girls they were
loath to separate from them. The young folks had many hours of happiness
together, which the older heads did not have the heart to interrupt.
“They certainly think the world and all of each other,” said Mr. Porter
to Mr. Wadsworth, referring to Dave and Jessie.
“So they do, and I am not sorry for it,” answered the jewelry
manufacturer. “And I notice that Roger thinks a good deal of your
daughter Laura.”
“You are right. And that pleases me, too,” returned Dave’s father.
“Well, we’ve got to start back for the West to-morrow,” announced Dave
one day.
“Right you are!” answered the senator’s son. “I suppose after this there
won’t be anything left for us to do but to work.”
“Oh, I don’t know, Roger. Something else may turn up sooner or later,”
returned our hero.
And he was right. Something else did turn up, and what that was will be
related in our next volume, to be entitled “Dave Porter Under Fire, or A
Young Army Engineer in France,” in which book we shall learn how our
hero and his chum “did their bit” for Uncle Sam.
“Becoming civil engineers has not been such a monotonous existence after
all,” said Roger. “Think of those strenuous times we had along the Rio
Grande and in Mexico, and then all those doings out in Montana, and when
we went after the gypsies and Jasniff.”
“They certainly were strenuous days, Roger,” answered Dave. “But now
we’ve got to buckle down to work if we want to become first-class,
full-fledged civil engineers.”
And here let us take our leave and bid Dave Porter good-bye.
THE END
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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DAVE PORTER AT OAK HALL
Or The School Days of an American Boy
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Or The Strange Cruise of the _Stormy
Petrel_
DAVE PORTER’S RETURN TO SCHOOL
Or Winning the Medal of Honor
DAVE PORTER IN THE FAR NORTH
Or The Pluck of an American Schoolboy
DAVE PORTER AND HIS CLASSMATES
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DAVE PORTER AT STAR RANCH
Or The Cowboy’s Secret
DAVE PORTER AND HIS RIVALS
Or The Chums and Foes of Oak Hall
DAVE PORTER ON CAVE ISLAND
Or A Schoolboy’s Mysterious Mission
DAVE PORTER AND THE RUNAWAYS
Or Last Days at Oak Hall
DAVE PORTER IN THE GOLD FIELDS
Or The Search for the Landslide Mine
DAVE PORTER AT BEAR CAMP
Or The Wild Man of Mirror Lake
DAVE PORTER AND HIS DOUBLE
Or The Disappearance of the Basswood
Fortune
DAVE PORTER’S GREAT SEARCH
Or The Perils of a Young Civil Engineer
DAVE PORTER UNDER FIRE
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DAVE PORTER’S WAR HONORS
Or At the Front with the Fighting
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------------------------------------------------------------------------
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
1. Moved the advertising page at the beginning of the book to between
the End and the advertising at the back.
2. Silently corrected typographical errors.
3. Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed.
4. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.
End of Project Gutenberg's Dave Porter's Great Search, by Edward Stratemeyer