DAVE AT HOME
Mirror Lake was a beautiful sheet of water nestling among the mountains
of the Upper Adirondacks of New York State. At the lower end of the
lake, where there was a well-defined trail running to several
fashionable summer resorts some miles away, were located two beautiful
bungalows, one of six rooms and the other of eight rooms. They were
built on a plot of ground bordering on a small cove of the lake, and
extending about a thousand feet back into the woods of the
mountain-side.
As my old readers will remember, Ben Basswood's father was interested in
real estate, and, a year or two before, he and Mr. Wadsworth had gone
into a land deal of considerable proportions. Several important
transactions had resulted, and in making one of the deals Mr. Wadsworth
and Mr. Basswood had become possessed of the two bungalows on Mirror
Lake, the two gentlemen owning both jointly.
At first, on acquiring the property, the jewelry manufacturer had been
in favor of selling it at public auction; but to this Mr. Basswood had
demurred.
"I think, Mr. Wadsworth," he had said, "if we hold that property for a
few years it will be far more valuable than it is now. The State road
has been built to within a few miles, and there is strong talk of its
being carried directly past Mirror Lake. Not only that; there is also
talk of the railroad putting in a spur through that district, and of
course that will help a great deal."
"Very well, Mr. Basswood. If you think we ought to hold the land, we'll
do it," had been Mr. Wadsworth's reply. "But what are we going to do
with the bungalows in the meantime?"
"We can either use them or rent them," had been the answer.
For the past season, and also during the early part of the present
summer, the two bungalows had been leased to some people from Rochester.
But now both bungalows were unoccupied.
It had been Dunston Porter's suggestion that they go up to Mirror Lake
on the return from the trip to Yellowstone Park, and this idea had been
quickly seconded by the young folks, especially by Laura and Jessie, who
had never as yet spent any time in the Adirondacks.
"They tell me the mountains are lovely, especially during the autumn,"
said the daughter of the jewelry manufacturer. "Oh, let us go, by all
means!"
"I am sure I would like it," Laura had answered. "But who will go with
us?"
The matter had been talked over while the young folks were returning
from Yellowstone Park, and also while Dave and Ben were at home, as well
as during the voyage on the _Eaglet_. As a result it had been arranged
that Mr. and Mrs. Basswood were to go up for part of the time, and also
Mr. and Mrs. Wadsworth. Laura and Jessie, as well as Belle Endicott, who
was coming East, were to go, along with Dave and Ben and a number of
their chums. Mr. Dunston Porter and Dave's father said they would make
several trips back and forth during the time the others were up there.
It may be said here that the bungalows were fully furnished, so our
friends had no anxiety on that score.
"We'll have the best time ever, Jessie," said Dave, in talking the
matter over the day after his arrival home. "I am sure you will like
it."
"Have you your things packed, Dave?" questioned his sister, who was
present. "You don't want to leave that until the last minute."
"Oh, packing is getting easy to me, Laura. I feel like a regular
traveler since I took those trips to Cave Island, and after the
runaways, and to the Landslide Mine and Yellowstone Park."
"Oh, it was splendid, the way you relocated that gold mine, Dave!" cried
Jessie. "How glad Roger and his folks must have been."
"They surely were glad," answered the youth. "I never saw Roger look so
happy in my life. It took a big weight off his shoulders."
"And, just to think that they are going to give you and Phil an interest
in that mine!" remarked Laura. "Why, Dave, if you keep on, you'll be a
rich man some day."
"Well, I sha'n't complain if I am," answered the brother, coolly.
It had been arranged that the start for Mirror Lake should be made on
the following Monday morning. Some of the folks were to go as far as
they could by train, but the young people had demurred, stating that
they wanted if possible to make the trip by automobile.
"We can take our machine and the Basswood car," said Dave. "It won't
take us more than two or three days, and it will be lots of fun."
"But what are we going to do with the automobiles after we reach Carpen
Falls?" asked Dunston Porter. "You can't go any farther in an auto than
that."
"Isn't there some sort of garage at Carpen Falls?" questioned Ben, who
was present.
"Probably there is. Anyway, I know there is a livery stable there."
"Then we could leave the machines there until we were ready to bring
them back," replied Dave.
"We'll see about this later," said Dave's father, with a shake of his
head. Automobiling did not appeal to him quite as strongly as it did to
his son and his brother.
It was a beautiful afternoon, and Dave and Ben had arranged for a little
run in the automobile, taking Laura and Jessie along. Dave ran the car,
with Jessie on the seat beside him. Their course was out of Crumville,
and then over the distant hills to a winding road which ran beside the
river.
"It seems so strange, Dave, to think you are not going back to Oak Hall
this fall," remarked Jessie, when the automobile was bowling along over
the smooth highway.
"It does seem strange," was Dave's somewhat grave reply. "Do you know,
sometimes I wish I were going back again."
"Why?"
"Well, if I had to do that I wouldn't have to bother about anything else
just now, Jessie. As it is, I've got to make up my mind what I am going
to do. One minute I think I want to go to college, and the next I have a
notion of going into some sort of business."
"What does your father say, Dave?"
"He is leaving it entirely to me. He says if I want to go to college I
can do so."
"What would you like to do best of all?"
"Oh, as for that, I'd like to travel, just as Uncle Dunston does. I'd
like to see the world."
"I suppose that would be nice, Dave. But still a person can't be
traveling all the time," and Jessie's face clouded a trifle.
"I shouldn't want to be traveling all the time, Jessie. Some day I'll
want to settle down." He gave her an earnest look. "I thought that was
all settled."
"Settled? What?" And the girl gave him a quick look in return.
"Why, that I was going to settle down some day, and that you were going
to settle down with me."
"Oh, indeed! That's the first I ever heard of it."
"Oh, but you know, Jessie----"
"Dave, do you know that Laura and Ben are sitting right behind us?"
"Yes, but they are busy with their own talk."
"Maybe you only think so."
"All right. But it's settled; isn't it, Jessie?"
"I don't know that anything is settled." Jessie was gazing straight
ahead at the road. "How about that beautiful young lady you rescued from
drowning?"
"Oh, say! Please don't bring that up," pleaded Dave, hastily. "That was
all some of Ben's nonsense."
"But you did pull her out of the water; didn't you, Dave?"
"What if I did? You wouldn't have me let her drown; would you?"
"Oh, of course not. But still Ben said----"
"Oh, there you go again! Didn't I tell you that was only some of Ben's
nonsense? You mustn't believe a word he says."
"Indeed! I always thought Ben was a very truthful boy."
"Oh, well, if you're going to make a mountain out of a molehill----"
"I haven't made a mountain out of anything, Dave."
"Say, who's talking about mountains on the front seat?" interrupted Ben.
"I thought we were going down on the river road."
"So we are," declared Dave, somewhat sharply.
"I hope we can go up to the Adirondacks in the autos," said Laura,
eagerly. "It will surely make a splendid trip."
"If we go in the autos who is going to drive?" questioned Jessie.
"I'll run our car, and I suppose Dave will run this one," answered Ben.
"But we can change off with the other fellows if we want to."
The top of a small hill had been reached, and now the automobile glided
down the other side in the direction of the river road. Here the way
narrowed a trifle, and Dave had to give all his attention to the running
of the car. As the automobile turned in toward the stream, they passed
several other touring-cars, and then came in sight of a horse attached
to a buggy, the two wheels of which were deep in a ditch.
"Hello! That's Mr. Aaron Poole's buggy!" exclaimed Dave.
"Yes. But it is Nat who is driving," returned Ben.
Mr. Aaron Poole was a rich money-lender, who lived not far from
Crumville, and who had a son Nat, who had gone to Oak Hall with Dave and
Ben. Mr. Poole was a very grasping man, and in the past he and the
Porters had had a number of differences. Nat had been almost as
overbearing as his father, but during the early part of the summer he
had told Dave that he was going to turn over a new leaf. And since that
time our hero had heard that the money-lender's son was quite a
different sort of a boy, and growing better every day.
"Hello, Nat! What's the trouble?" questioned Dave, as he brought the
automobile to a standstill beside the buggy.
"Trouble enough!" grumbled the money-lender's son. "Did you notice
those automobiles that just went by?"
"I certainly did. They were going at some speed."
"They were racing, that's what they were doing!" explained Nat Poole.
"They were racing, and they made such a racket that it scared my horse
and he landed me here in this ditch."
"It's a good thing they didn't upset you, Nat," said Ben.
"If they upset me, I would make them pay for the damages," retorted the
youth in the buggy.
"Did you know them, Nat?" asked Laura, kindly.
"I know one of them. He's a high-flyer from Pittstown. The next time I
see him I'll give him a piece of my mind. They've got no right to use
this road for a race-track."
"Did they hurt you at all?" queried Jessie.
"I don't know as they did. But this mud in the ditch is mighty sticky,
and I don't see how I am going to get out of it," grumbled the
money-lender's son.
"Maybe we can give you a lift, Nat," said Dave, and got out of the
automobile, followed by Ben. "Here, I'll hold the horse while you get
out."
"Be careful. He's mighty skittish," warned the other. "If he gets to
kicking he'll smash the buggy into kindling-wood."
"I'm not afraid of him," answered Dave, and took a firm hold on the
horse's bridle. Then Nat leaped from the buggy, and he and Ben took hold
of the wheels and pushed, while Dave led the horse forward. By this
means, in a minute more, the turnout was safe in the middle of the
roadway.
"Much obliged to you fellows for this," remarked the money-lender's son,
when all danger seemed past.
"Don't mention it, Nat. I am glad to help you," returned Dave, quickly.
"And so am I," added Ben.
"Funny thing," went on the money-lender's son. "I was coming around to
your house to see you," and he glanced quickly at our hero.
"Well, you'll have to come, Nat, some time when I am home," answered
Dave. "We are going off on another trip next Monday."
"Is that so? Then I'm glad I met you as I did, because I wanted to see
you before you went away. I've got some strange news to tell you."
"What is it?"
"Link Merwell is alive. He wasn't killed in that landslide at all," was
Nat Poole's astonishing reply.