THE BIG SLEIGHING-PARTY
Of course, even with so many visitors to entertain, Dave and Roger
could not neglect their studies; so it was arranged that every day the
pair should apply themselves diligently to their books and to what
their tutor had to say from eight o'clock until twelve. Then lunch
would be had and the young folks could start out to enjoy themselves
in one way or another.
On one occasion the three boys went hunting with Dunston Porter in the
woods back of Crumville. They had a most delightful time, and brought
back quite a bagful of rabbits, as well as several squirrels, and also
a plump partridge, the bird being brought down by Dave.
"And it was a fine shot, Davy," remarked his Uncle Dunston in speaking
about the partridge. "As fine a shot on the wing as I ever saw."
Crumville boasted of a good-sized pond; and from this the snow had
been cleared, giving the young folks an opportunity for skating, which
every one of them enjoyed to the utmost. They also attended a concert
given in the church one evening, and even went to a moving-picture
show which had recently been opened in the town.
The moving pictures interested the two girls from the Far West more
than anything else, for, so far, they had had little opportunity to
take in such a form of entertainment.
During those days Dave was continually on the watch for some
information concerning Ward Porton, but no word of any kind came in,
and he finally concluded that the rascal had left that vicinity.
"Most likely he thought things were growing too hot for him," was
Phil's comment, when the boys talked the matter over. "He probably
realized that if he continued to go to the stores and get goods the
way he did he would be caught sooner or later."
Ben Basswood often went out with the others, pairing off, as had been
expected by Laura, with Cora Dartmore. This left Belle Endicott more
or less in Phil's care, for which the shipowner's son was grateful.
"Yes, my father has brought the Enos miniatures here," answered Ben,
one day, in reply to a question from Dave. "He had them in a safe
deposit vault first, but he concluded that they would probably be just
as safe at our place. You know, he has a big safe of his own in which
he keeps all his real estate documents." Mr. Basswood's office was in
a wing of his house, and all the boys had visited it and knew that it
contained a massive steel affair about five feet square and probably
four feet deep.
"They ought to be safe there, Ben," returned Dave. "I don't see what a
thief could do with miniatures, and I don't believe your father's
office is liable to catch fire."
"And that safe must be fire-proof," put in Roger.
"I think it is fire-proof," returned the real estate dealer's son.
"And I guess you are right about thieves--they would rather steal
money or jewelry or silverware, or something like that, every time."
Used to a life in the open air, and to riding and driving, the
sleighing in and around Crumville proved to be a constant delight to
Belle and Cora. As a consequence, it was arranged by the boys that the
whole crowd should go out in a large sleigh, to be procured from the
local livery stable and to be drawn by four reliable horses.
"We'll put a lot of straw in the bottom of the sleigh and make it a
sort of straw-ride," declared Dave.
"And just to think! it will be moonlight!" cried his sister. "Won't
that be the finest ever!"
"It certainly will be!" came from Jessie, her eyes beaming. But then
she turned suddenly to Dave, her face clouding a little. "Who is
going to drive--you?"
"No, we're going to have a regular man from the livery stable," he
answered. And then as his sister turned away, he added in a low tone:
"I didn't want to spend my time on the horses--I wanted to spend it on
you."
"Oh, Dave!" murmured the girl, and blushed. Then she gave him a look
that meant a great deal.
The sleighing-party was to start off about two o'clock the next
afternoon, and did not expect to return to Crumville until well
towards midnight. They were to go to the town of Lamont, about
seventeen miles away. A new restaurant had been opened in this town,
in connection with the hotel, and Mr. and Mrs. Wadsworth had stopped
there for a meal and had pronounced it excellent, the food being of
first-class quality and an orchestra being present to liven matters
up. Ben had thought at first that he could not accompany the others,
his father having been taken sick; but as Mr. Basswood's illness was
not of a serious nature, Mrs. Basswood, knowing how disappointed the
youth would be, urged that he go along anyhow.
"Your father is resting quite comfortably," she told Ben; "and the
doctor says he will be around again inside of a week, so you may as
well take in this sleighride while you have the chance."
"But there are those miniatures, mother," returned Ben. "Wasn't father
going to let Mr. Wadsworth see them?"
"Mr. Wadsworth is going to have several art critics at his home in a
day or two, and then your father is to let all of them examine the
miniatures carefully to see if he can get an idea of what they are
worth. But you need not bother your head about that. If Mr. Wadsworth
sends word that the critics have arrived at his house I'll take care
of the matter." And so this was arranged, and Ben went off to prepare
for the sleigh-ride.
At the appointed hour, the big sleigh came dashing up to the door of
the Wadsworth mansion. All of the young folks, including Ben, were on
hand and ready for the trip, each bundled up well for protection
against the cold. The sun had been shining in the morning, but towards
noon it had gone under a heavy bank of clouds.
"Looks a little to me like more snow," observed Dunston Porter, who
was present to see them depart. "I shouldn't be surprised to see you
coming back in the midst of another fall."
"Oh, Uncle Dunston, don't say that!" cried Laura. "We want the moon to
shine this evening."
"Well, it will shine, Laura," returned the uncle, with a wink of the
eye. "It always does shine, even when we don't see it," and then he
dodged when she laughingly picked up a chunk of snow and threw it at
him.
Into the big sleigh piled the girls, and the boys quickly followed.
All the back seats had been removed, and they nestled down in the
thick straw and covered themselves with numerous robes.
"Look out that you don't jounce off when you go over a bump," cried
Dunston Porter to Phil and Belle, who sat at the back of the turnout.
"Oh, we'll hold on, don't worry!" cried Phil.
"I'm used to hanging on," came from the western girl, quickly. "Riding
in this sleigh won't be half as bad as hanging on to the back of a
half-broken broncho."
"I guess that's right, too," answered Dave's uncle. "Just the same,
you take care. I don't want you young folks to have any accidents on
this trip."
"I trust you all have a good time," came benevolently from old Caspar
Potts, as he gazed at them and rubbed his hands. "My, my! how I used
to enjoy sleighing when I was a young man! And how many years ago that
seems!" he added with a little sigh.
"Don't stay any later than midnight," warned Mrs. Wadsworth.
"We'll be back by that time unless something unusual turns up,"
returned Dave. He turned to the others in the sleigh. "Everybody
fixed and ready?"
"All ready!" came back the answering cry.
"Then we're off." Dave turned to the driver, a middle-aged colored
man. "Let her go, Wash."
"Yassir," responded Washington Bones, with a grin. "Giddap!" he called
to his horses. And with a crack of the whip and a grand flourish the
turnout left the front of the Wadsworth mansion and whirled out on to
the broad highway leading to Lamont.
The four horses were used to working together, and they trotted along
in fine style, causing many a passer-by to stop and gaze at the team
and the gay load of young people in admiration. The horses were well
equipped with bells, and each of the youths had provided himself with
a good-sized horn, so that noise was not lacking as they dashed along
past the stores and houses of Crumville. Then they came out on the
Lamont road, where the sleighing was almost perfect.
"I hope we don't have any such adventure as we had at Conover's Hill,"
remarked Jessie to Dave while they were spinning on their way.
"I don't think these livery stable horses will run away," he returned.
"They are used every day, and that makes them less frisky than our
horses, which sometimes are in the stable for a week. Besides that,
Wash Bones is one of the most careful drivers around here. If he does
anything, he'll let the team hold back on him rather than urge them to
do their best."
On and on flew the sleigh, the young folks chatting gaily and
occasionally bursting out into a verse of song.
"Let's give 'em our old Oak Hall song!" cried Dave, presently.
"That's it!" came eagerly from his two chums, and a moment later they
started up the old school song, which was sung to the tune of Auld
Lang Syne, the girls joining in:
"Oak Hall we never shall forget,
No matter where we roam;
It is the very best of schools,
To us it's just like home!
Then give three cheers, and let them ring
Throughout this world so wide,
To let the people know that we
Elect to here abide!"
"Say, that takes me back to the old days at Oak Hall," remarked Roger,
when the singing had come to an end. "My, but those were the great
days!"
"I don't believe we'll ever see any better, Roger," answered Dave.
The sleighing party had still three miles to go when suddenly Laura
uttered a cry.
"It's snowing!"
"So it is!" burst out Belle. "What a shame!"
"Maybe it won't amount to much," said Ben. "It often snows just a
little, you know."
The first flakes to fall were large, and dropped down lazily from the
sky. But soon it grew darker, and in a short time the snow was coming
down so thickly that it almost blotted out the landscape on all
sides.
"Some fall this!" exclaimed Phil. "Looks now as if it were going to be
a regular storm."
"O dear! and I wanted it to be moonlight to-night!" wailed Laura.
Dave was peering around and looking anxiously at the heavy, leaden
sky.
"If this is going to be a heavy storm, maybe it might be as well for
us to turn back," he announced.
"Turn back?" came from several of the others.
"Yes."
"What for, Dave?" questioned Phil. "I don't think a little snow is
going to hurt us. Maybe it will help to keep us warm," he added with a
grin.
"We don't want to get snowed in, Phil."
"Oh, let's go on!" interposed Roger. "Even if it does keep on snowing
it won't get very heavy in the next couple of hours. We can hurry up
with our dinner at Lamont and be home again before it gets very
deep."
"All right, I'm willing if the rest are," returned Dave, who did not
wish to throw "cold water" on their sport. "Lamont it is! Go ahead,
Wash, we want to get there just as soon as possible."
On they plunged, the snow coming down thicker and thicker every
minute. Then, just as the outskirts of the town were gained, they
heard a curious humming sound.
"Oh, Dave! What is that?" queried Jessie.
"It's the wind coming up," he answered. "Listen!"
All did so and noted that the humming sound was increasing. Then the
wind came tearing through the woods and down the highway with great
force, sending the snow in driving sheets into their faces.
"My gracious, this looks as if it were going to be a blizzard!" gasped
Phil, who had started up to see what the sound meant. "We had better
get under some kind of cover just as soon as possible."
"We'll be up to dat hotel in anudder minute," bawled Washington Bones,
to make himself heard above the sudden fury of the elements. "Say!
dis suah is some snowsto'm!" he added.
Again he cracked his whip, and once more the four horses ploughed
along as well as they were able. They had to face both the wind and
the snow, and these combined made progress slow. By the time the party
came into sight of the hotel with the restaurant attached, the wind
was blowing almost a gale, and the snow seemed to be coming down in
driving chunks.
"Drive us around to the side porch," ordered Dave. "It will be a
little more sheltered there."
"Yassir," came from the colored driver; and soon they had come to a
halt at the spot mentioned. From under the snow and robes crawled the
boys and the girls and lost no time in running into the hotel. Then
the colored man drove the turnout down to the stables.
[Illustration: FROM UNDER THE SNOW AND THE ROBES CRAWLED THE BOYS AND THE
GIRLS--_Page 103._]
"My! did you ever see such a storm!" was Roger's comment. "And how
quickly it came up!"
"If it isn't a blizzard, it is next door to it," returned Dave. And
then he added quickly: "It looks to me as if we were going to be
snowbound!"