A FRIEND IN NEED
The automobile with the constable and two prisoners sped down the road,
aiming to stride the main highway leading northward to Augusta. It was a
good run, but the machine ought to make it before night closed in, for
the days were long and the course was favorable. The officer could have
boarded the _Gardiner_ at one of the stopping places and made the
journey by water, but nothing was to be gained by so doing.
The chauffeur slowed down and honked as he drew near the turn in the
roadway. Just then he saw another auto coming from the north and curving
about to enter the road leading to Charmount. It was similar to the car
in which our friends were riding and held only one passenger who sat
beside the chauffeur, the rear seat being empty.
Something in the appearance of the former struck Alvin as familiar. He
was middle-aged, neatly dressed, with sandy mustache and slightly
stooping shoulders. He looked sharply at the youth as the machines drew
nearer. A moment before they came opposite, he called out:
"Hello, Alvin! where are you going? Gabe, what's up?"
The latter query was addressed to the constable, the two being old
acquaintances. Each ordered his chauffeur to stop, and they obeyed, with
the machines side by side.
It was at this juncture that Chester, who was the first to recognize the
man, called to his companion:
"It's Mr. Keyes Richards from Boothbay Harbor. He used to own the
Squirrel Inn, but has shifted over to Mouse Island."
"How do you, do, Mr. Richards?" saluted Alvin. "We are glad to meet
you."
"But I say what are you doing in this part of the world?" continued the
puzzled Richards.
"Ask _him_," replied Alvin, jerking his head toward the officer behind
him.
"Where did you pick up your passengers, Gabe?" inquired the other of
the officer, who was somewhat puzzled by the turn matters were taking.
"Do you know them?" was his question.
"Well, rather; they're particular friends of mine; they are staying for
the summer on Southport. Are you kidnapping them?"
"That's what he is doing," Chester took upon himself to reply.
Alvin, feeling the humor of the scene, clasped his hands and rolled his
eyes toward heaven:
"Oh save us, kind sir! Save us, for he means to eat us up, and then hang
us and burn us at the stake. May I not rush to your loving arms, Mr.
Richards, before it is too late?"
Richards was more mystified than ever. He didn't know what to make of it
all. He kept his gaze upon his old friend the officer, and waited for
him to speak. The constable's face had turned crimson, for he was
beginning to suspect the truth.
"You have heard of the robbery of the post office at Rockledge, Keyes?"
"Yes; I look for news of something of the kind every few days. What has
that to do with my young friends being in a position that looks as if
they are your prisoners?"
"Banet Raymond tells me that that robbery was done by three men wearing
yachting suits. These two are dressed that way and they admit they had
another chap with them, but he's run off, so I arrested them on
suspicion--what in thunder are you laughing at?"
Keyes Richards had thrown back his head and his laughter might have been
heard half a mile away. As soon as he could speak, he said:
"So you took those two youngsters for burglars of the post office at
Rockledge! The joke is on you, Gabe, and I'll make sure all your friends
hear of it. Haw! haw! haw!"
The poor officer squirmed and asked sullenly:
"How should I know who they were? I never saw 'em before."
"You've had enough experience to judge a little by looks; your own small
amount of sense ought to tell you better than this."
"That's what I did go by. Don't you think that they look like a couple
of desperate criminals?"
And the officer turned his head, scrutinized the youth at his side and
then leaned over and squinted at Alvin, as if he saw both for the first
time. Chester felt sympathy for the man, and waiting for Richards to
recover from his renewed outburst said:
"We must be hard looking fellows, for every one in the crowd who saw us
leave Charmount agreed that we were a couple of villains."
"And one woman thought lynching wasn't too good for us."
"Well, Gabe, do you intend to carry them to Augusta?"
"Of course not, now that you vouch for them--unless they want to go
there," he added.
"Can you take us with you, Mr. Richards?"
"I am on my way to Charmount to board the boat for Boothbay. I shall be
glad to have your company."
"Have we your permission, officer?" asked Alvin, looking round at their
guardian, as he partly rose to his feet.
The constable was uneasy. Moving about in his seat, he asked:
"I say, young men, you haven't any hard feelings agin me?"
Keyes Richards overheard the question and his waggishness could not be
repressed.
"You boys have a clear case against Gabe; you ought to have no trouble
in soaking him for ten or twenty thousand dollars damages."
"Is that a fact?" asked Alvin, pausing in stepping from one car to
another, as if suddenly impressed by the idea.
"Gabe owns one of the finest farms in Lincoln county; you will have no
trouble at all to get it from him."
The officer would have been scared almost out of his wits had he not
caught the wink of Richards and the responsive smile of Alvin. The
sympathetic youth replied:
"It is all right, officer, though we should have felt different if you
had put those handcuffs on us. We have had a little fun and don't mind
it. Good-by."
Each boy shook hands with the grim fellow, who was vastly relieved by
their good will.
"You know we have to take chances now and then, but I always try to do
my duty regardless of consequences."
"You have a hard job before you, Gabe, but I hope you will win; no one
deserves it more," said Richards.
And the parties separated in the best of humor.
The run to Charmount was quickly made. Nearly all who saw the departure
of the officer with the prisoners witnessed their return in the company
of Keyes H. Richards, who was well known to nearly everybody from
Augusta to the mouth of the Kennebec. He saluted a number of persons and
the chauffeur who had brought him to that point circled his machine
about, and skimmed off after the fleeing constable, who must have been
many miles up the road by that time.
It was some minutes before the little group could understand the turn of
affairs. Alvin lifted his cap to the woman who had thought that he and
his companion deserved lynching and said:
"If you feel that we should be executed we are here to receive our
sentence."
She stared at the impudent youngster, sniffed and flirted away without
reply. The tennis player who insisted that the looks of the lads proved
their villainy did not at first quite grasp the situation. He aimlessly
patted his hip with his racquet and looked and wondered. Alvin with his
winsome grin addressed him:
"We are unlucky that our faces give us away, but it can't be helped. The
constable became so disgusted with us that he turned his prisoners over
to Mr. Richards."
"Does he know you?" asked the other unabashed.
"It looks that way, doesn't it?"
"I have no doubt he was the third burglar who stuck up the Rockledge
post office. You are all tarred with the same stick. However, I'll
promise to drop in on you if they send you to Atlanta to keep company
with Uncle Sam's guests--for I intend to make a business trip South next
month."
"Are you sure it is solely on _business_?" was the pointed inquiry of
Chester.
"That is the present outlook, but if this post office robbing industry
picks up a little more, you and I might join hands and whack up."
"Chester, we aren't making much here," said Alvin. "Suppose we pay our
respects to the pert young lady who rattles the telegraph key."
They walked into the little building, while Richards stayed outside and
explained that the fathers of the boys owned about half the city of New
York and most of the railway lines westward to the Rocky Mountains; that
they would probably buy Southport, Squirrel, Outer Heron and a number of
other islands by the close of next season; that their sons were two of
the finest-grained young gentlemen that had ever honored Maine with a
visit; that young Landon was the owner of the prettiest motor boat ever
seen in those waters, and that it was stolen exactly as they had
described, and he was going to give them all the help he could in
recovering it. If any one of his listeners wished to earn a handsome
reward, all he had to do was to find the boat. Suffice it to say, the
story of Mr. Richards made a sensation, and Alvin and Chester became
objects of profounder interest than when they were prisoners charged
with the crime of robbing a post office.
The young heroes never heard anything of these amazing yarns, for they
had entered the telegraph office to see the bright-eyed operator who had
had her fling at them. She glanced up from her table as she finished
clicking off a message, and remarked:
"Out on bail I suppose; the next thing no doubt, you will skip."
"Would you blame us?" asked Alvin. "The punishment for that sort of
thing is pretty severe."
"Ten or twenty years, I believe."
"Something like that, with considerable off for good behavior."
"You're not likely to get any allowance for _that_--there's your boat!"
she exclaimed, as the hoarse whistle of a steamer sounded from the
river. Alvin would have liked to make appropriate reply to this irony,
but really he had no time to think one up. He and his chum hurried out,
merely calling good-by to her.