CAPTAIN SYNDERS.
There were not many men in Centreport who were not either the toadies
or the employees of Colonel Wimpleton. He was an absolute monarch in
the place, and his will was law, to all intents and purposes, though of
course he did not operate with all as he did with me. Ordinarily, and
especially when not opposed, he was a very gentlemanly man, affable to
his equals,--if he had any equals in town,--and condescending to his
inferiors.
I was not quite willing to believe that Waddie had called upon his
father for aid. It was more probable that the scion’s dirty plight
had attracted the attention of his parents, and called forth an
explanation. But it was all the same to me, since Colonel Wimpleton
was coming with efficient aid to capture and reduce me to proper
subjection. It was no common enemy with whom I was called upon to
contend, but the mighty man of Centreport, whose will none dared to
oppose.
As the party approached, I saw that one of the men was Captain Synders,
the ex-skipper of a canal boat, who had been promoted to the honors and
dignities of a constable. I was somewhat appalled when I considered
his official position, for he was armed with authority, and it would
be hardly safe for me to offer any resistance to him. The coming of
Colonel Wimpleton nipped in the bud the scheme of the bullies to camp
out around me, and I was rather glad to have the case settled without
any unnecessary delay.
The summer house, which was a poor imitation of an Indian pagoda,
mounted on piles, had a door, with a window in each of its octagonal
faces. On the other side of the brook was a large tree, whose branches
partially shaded the building. During my study of the situation, I had
arranged a plan by which my escape could be effected at a favorable
moment. I could pass out at one of the windows, and climb to the roof
of the pagoda, from which the overhanging branches of the trees would
afford me the means of reaching the ground. The only difficulty in my
way was, that my besiegers would be able to reach the foot of the tree
before I could, and thus cut off my retreat. But the summer house was
located near the lake, and the brook at this point was wide and deep,
so that it could not be crossed except on the bridge, which was several
rods distant. My line of retreat would be available only when the
besiegers were off their guard, or were not in a situation to pursue
instantly.
When Colonel Wimpleton appeared, Waddie’s six brave companions retired
from the ground, fearful, perhaps, of getting into a scrape. I saw
them move off a short distance, and halt to observe the proceedings.
The great man and his associates devoted their whole attention to me,
and did not heed the students. They came directly to the foot of the
stairs, while I sat at the head of them. I had made a movement to
retire when the valiant six retreated; but I saw that the attempt would
only throw me into the hands of the reënforcements.
“Come down, you villain!” called Colonel Wimpleton, as he halted at the
foot of the stairs.
To this summons to surrender I made no reply.
“What do you mean by knocking my son over into the mud?” he added,
angrily.
“He began it upon me, sir,” I replied. “He brought up half a dozen
fellows to lick me, and struck me with a club.”
“He served you right. I told you to come down.”
“I know you did, sir.”
“Are you coming down?”
“Not just yet.”
“Go up and bring him down, Synders,” said the colonel to the officer.
“I’ll bring him down,” replied the zealous constable.
But he did not.
I sprang to my feet, leaped out upon the trimmings of the pagoda, and
vaulted to the roof almost in the twinkling of an eye--at any rate,
before Captain Synders reached the inside of the summer house. The
constable looked out of the window at my elevated position. He was
too clumsy to follow me, and I felt that I was perfectly safe. From
the roof I saw that the branches of the tree were more favorable to
my descent than I had supposed, and I found that I could climb into
another tree on the same side of the brook as the pagoda. I jumped
into the branches of this tree, and began to move down. I found that
my gymnastic practice at the Institute, where I had excelled in this
department, was of great service to me, and I was quite sure that no
man could follow me.
Perching myself on a branch, I paused to examine the situation again.
Captain Synders sent the man who had come with him, and who was one
of the gardeners, to the foot of the tree to intercept my retreat. I
did not purpose to go down that way, but intended, at the right time,
to return to the roof of the pagoda, and descend on the other side of
the brook. My movement in this direction was only a feint. The colonel
expected, doubtless, that I would drop down into the arms of the
gardener, and that the chase would be immediately ended; but, seated
on the branch, I kept still, and said nothing.
“Are you going down, you scoundrel?” roared the colonel, when he found
the plan did not work.
“No, sir, not yet.”
“You are on my grounds, and I will have you arrested as a trespasser,”
foamed the colonel.
“You sent for me, sir, and I came at your request.”
“Who sent for you?”
“You did, sir; ask Waddie; he was your messenger.”
“I didn’t send for you.”
“Waddie came to my house, and said you wanted to see me.”
“I want to see you now, at any rate.”
“Here I am, sir.”
“You shall be punished for knocking my son over into the mud.”
“I would like to talk this matter over coolly, Colonel Wimpleton,” I
continued, taking an easy position in the tree, “I apologized to Waddie
for calling him a liar, and I am sorry I was saucy to you.”
“Humph! Come down from that tree, then. If you make a clean breast of
it, I will let you off easy.”
“I don’t think I’m to blame for anything except being saucy,” I
replied; and I did not think I was much to blame for that, after he had
called me a villain and a scoundrel, and other hard names; still it was
returning evil for evil.
“Did he apologize to you, Waddie?” asked the colonel, turning to his
hopeful.
“He said he was sorry, and I told him to get down on his knees and beg
my pardon,” replied Waddie.
“And he would not do it?” asked the indignant father, evidently
regarding it as exceedingly unreasonable in me to refuse to undergo
this trifling humiliation.
“No, he wouldn’t.”
“Very well,” replied the great man. “We shall see whether he will or
not.”
I was willing to see.
“Wolf Penniman, you are a bad boy!” exclaimed the colonel with
emphasis.
I did not dispute him.
“You have insulted me and my son.”
“I am willing to be forgiven, sir,” I answered, after a vain effort to
keep down the spirit which was rising in me. “I have apologized for
being saucy; what more can I do?”
“You must do what my son told you to do, and then confess that you
helped blow up the canal boat,” replied he, more calmly than he had yet
spoken.
“I can’t do anything more, then. I know nothing about the blow-up, and
I won’t go down on my knees to anybody in this world.”
“You are an obstinate villain, and I’ll bring you to your senses before
I have done with you. Where is your father?”
“Gone to Hitaca.”
“Will you come down now, or shall I have you brought down?”
“I’ll be brought down, if it’s all the same to you, sir,” I replied,
folding my arms, and looking as impudent as I spoke.
I felt that I had given my mother’s good advice a fair trial. I had
gained nothing by apologizing, though I was not sorry I had done so.
The more I humiliated myself, the more I must; and, without meaning to
be saucy, I determined to stand up squarely for my own rights and my
own dignity.
“I’ll bring him down, if you say so, father,” volunteered the Wimpleton
junior.
“How?”
“We can drive him out of the tree, as we did off the bridge.”
“Exactly so!” exclaimed Captain Synders. “That’s a good idea. Since
neither words nor grass will do, we’ll try what virtue’s in a stone or
two.”
The besiegers went down the stairs, and Waddie called up his forces,
ready to renew the assault. By the time they reached the ground, I had
descended to the roof of the pagoda, where the party could not see
me, and where the thick branches of the trees protected me from their
missiles. They soon found they were not getting ahead any, and by the
advice of Synders they changed their position. With the exception
of the colonel, who was too dignified to throw stones, men and boys
renewed the assault, and poured a shower of stones upon me. Some of
them hit me, and the roof became too warm for me. I dropped down into
the summer house for safety. Finding the coast clear,--for the colonel
had been forced to retire from the foot of the stairs to avoid the
stones,--I rushed down the steps, and ran with all my might towards
home. The besiegers had been careless, and I was only too happy to take
advantage of their mistake.
I ran as fast as I could over the bridge, following the path by which
I had come. I was closely pursued; but I distanced all my enemies. It
would be useless for me to go home; for the constable was a man of
authority, and I supposed he had been sent for to arrest me, though on
what charge I could not conjecture, for Wimpleton senior would not dare
to prosecute me in a matter wherein Wimpleton junior would be likely
to suffer more than myself. I wished to spare my mother the pain and
anxiety of another controversy in the house; and for that reason, as
well as because home was not a safe place for me, I made my way to the
mill wharf, where I had an old skiff.
I reached this boat without accident, but out of breath with the hard
run I had had. Jumping in, I pushed off, and pulled away from the
shore. For the present I was safe, for there was no boat in which I
could be pursued, nearer than the mansion of Colonel Wimpleton. The
constable and his companions did not come down to the wharf after they
saw me push off, but returned in the direction of the grove. I rowed
out upon the lake, where I could see any boat which might put off
after me. I went half way across the lake, and then concluded that my
assailants had chosen to wait for my return.
I did not exactly like to return then; it would only be putting my head
into the lion’s mouth; and I pulled for Middleport. A sail-boat was
near me, in which were several boys, one of whom presently hailed me.
“Is that you, Wolf?” called the speaker, in whom I recognized Tommy
Toppleton.
I informed him that it was I.
“I was going over after you,” he added. “Jump aboard--will you?”
I did so, and was glad to find myself among friends, though they were
Toppletonians.
“We want you to get that engine out of the water,” continued Tommy.
I saw the tow-boat at the wharf, with steam up, and I promised to do
the job before night--in fact, to put it through by daylight.