ANOTHER BOAT RACE.
The horses now demanded all of Harry's attention. One of them was bound to
run away, and the youth had all he could do to hold the animal in check.
But the lad knew what he was doing and presently held them under complete
control.
Then our hero staggered out of the bushes with his hand on his neck, where
a big lump was rising.
"Where are they?"
"Gone! Did they rob you, Jerry?"
"No."
"Then you are in luck."
"What do you mean, Harry?"
"Crosby took my gold watch and chain."
"Never!"
"He did. Jerry, those two chaps have turned nothing but common thieves,"
went on Harry, bitterly.
"It certainly looks so, Harry. What shall we do now?"
"Jump in and we'll go after them."
Jerry was soon beside Harry, and they turned up the side road taken by the
fugitives. The moon was out full, making the way as light as day, yet
nothing was to be seen of the rascally pair.
This was not to be wondered at, for after running along the road but a few
hundred feet, Si Peters and Wash Crosby had taken to an open field.
Crossing this, they came out upon a railroad track. A freight train was
coming along slowly, around the bend of the lake, and they had had small
trouble in boarding this. Inside of an hour they were many miles away from
the vicinity.
Jerry and Harry searched for the pair until midnight, and then gave up the
hunt and returned to Lakeview. Once again the authorities were notified,
and the detectives started on a fresh hunt for the evil-doers. Yet it was
destined to be a long time before Si Peters and Wash Crosby were heard of
again.
About this time the Lakeview boat club was organizing another series of
rowing races, and both Harry and Jerry were easily persuaded to enter a
contest, which was to take place between a number of local oarsmen.
A prize of a fine bicycle had been put up, also several other articles of
more or less value, and Jerry and Harry immediately went into training,
with a firm determination to win.
There were seven entries, all by young fellows of Jerry's age, and as the
youth looked at his opponents he felt that the race would be no easy one.
Saturday afternoon, the time appointed for the contest, came, bright and
clear, and it found the lake front crowded to its utmost capacity. Many
came over from Rockpoint, but it was noticed that those who had belonged
to Si Peters' crowd were absent.
The race was to be two miles long, up the lake and back again. The boats
were all drawn up in a line, and everything was made ready for a start.
Jerry was at one end of the line, with Harry at the other, and the
remaining five contestants between them.
Bang! went the gun on the judges' boat, and away shot the seven rowers
like one man; and the race was begun.
For over half a mile the seven contestants kept almost side by side. Then
three of them were seen to drop behind.
"Gravling is ahead!"
"Harry Parker is second."
"Phil Raymond is a close third!"
"Jerry Upton is crawling up!"
So the shouting went on, as the four leaders swept past. When the turning
point was reached, Harry led, Raymond came second, Gravling third, and
Jerry fourth. The remaining three felt they were out of the race, and
rowed back to the boathouse.
"Good for you, Harry!"
"What's the matter, Jerry? You're not doing as good as the day you beat Si
Peters!"
"Hurry up, Gravling!"
"Pull for all you know how, Raymond!"
On and on came the four, their long blades flashing brightly in the
sunshine. They were making fast time, and, no matter who won, the lake
record was likely to be broken.
Half way down the homestretch, Harry still led, with Gravling but half a
length behind him. A length further back came Raymond and Jerry, side by
side.
But the terrific speed was now beginning to tell upon Raymond, and slowly
but surely he fell behind, despite the urgings of his friends. Then Jerry
set to work to overtake Gravling.
"See Jerry Upton crawling up!"
"Oh, but isn't that a beautiful stroke!"
"Gravling can't shake him off!"
"They are a tie!"
The last cry was true. When still a dozen lengths from the finish Jerry
had overtaken Gravling. But they did not remain tie long. Half a dozen
strokes and Jerry shot ahead and the bow of his craft overlapped Harry's
stern. "Jerry Upton is second!"
"He's going to shake up Harry Parker for first place!"
On came the two friends, but now it was noticed that Jerry, although he
still rowed his best, seemed to be losing his interest in the race.
"It will be no fun to beat Harry," was the thought which ran through his
head; and then, with a yell from three thousand throats, Harry crossed the
line a winner, with our hero not quite half a boat length behind.
"Hurrah for Harry Parker!"
"Hurrah for Jerry Upton!"
Cheer after cheer rent the air, and both lads were immediately surrounded
by their friends. Jerry was one of the first to shake his chum's hand.
"You won it fairly, Harry," he said. "What kind of time did we make?"
He was greatly pleased to learn that the lake record for two miles had
been lowered by forty-three seconds, and that he had helped lower it by
forty-two seconds.
That evening the club held a meeting, and Harry was presented with the
bicycle, something he had been wishing for for some time. Jerry's prize
was a silver watch and chain.
"This just suits me," he said. "Now, when I'm away from home, I'll be able
to tell what time it is."
The celebration was at its height, when a message came for Jerry from his
home, stating that his father had been kicked by one of the horses and was
badly injured.
This news shocked the youth a good deal, and bidding his friends a hasty
good-night, the young oarsman set off for the farm on a run.
He found his father lying on a couch in the dining-room. A doctor had just
arrived, and he was doing all that he could for the sufferer.
"Where did the horse kick him, mother?" he questioned, hurriedly.
"In the side, right under the heart," replied Mrs. Upton. "Oh, I do trust
it is not serious!"
"So do I. What can I do?"
"I don't know. We must see what the doctor says."
The medical man, after a long examination, declared that several ribs had
been fractured, and that Mr. Upton was suffering from shock. Some medicine
was administered, and the patient was carefully carried upstairs and
placed upon a bed.
No one in the farmhouse slept that night. Mrs. Upton sat by her husband's
side, and Jerry came and went, ready to do anything that might be asked of
him.
Two days later the doctor pronounced the wounded man out of danger. But
his injuries were severe, and it would be a long while before Mr. Upton
would be able to go around as before.
His enforced idleness made the farmer fret a good deal. It was true that
the harvest work on the farm was over, but he had wished to do much more.
"And I reckon that trip to New York is now out of the question," Jerry
heard him say to Mrs. Upton.
"Why, father, were you going to New York?" asked the boy, in much
curiosity.
"I had an idea that way, son," returned Mr. Upton, slowly. "I was going on
business," he added, after a pause.
At this Jerry was more curious than ever. New York was over two hundred
miles from Lakeview, and he had never heard of his parent having business
in the metropolis.
"You see it's this way, Jerry," said Mr. Upton, noticing his look. "When
your uncle Charley died he left all his property to me. Some time ago I
was cleaning out one of his old trunks and I ran across some deeds to
property in California. From what I can make out the land must be nigh to
the city of Sacramento."
"And the property belongs to you?" cried Jerry.
"No, I can't say that exactly. As near as I can figure it, your uncle
Charley owned an interest in it. The property was in the hands of a land
boomer named Alexander Slocum, and there was a letter in the trunk from
this Alexander Slocum which was dated from New York. I think this boomer
holds other papers relating to the land, and I was thinking of making a
trip to New York and hunting him up, if he is still there."
"Why not let me go to New York in your place," suggested Jerry, quickly.
It had always been the ambition of his life to pay a visit to the great
metropolis.
"Well, I was kind of thinking of that, son," returned the sick man,
slowly. "I'll see about it in a day or two."