ON THE WAY HOME
"Oh, Jack, you don't mean it! Father and Uncle Sam have really
volunteered for the war!"
It was Martha Rover who spoke. She and her brother were seated in a
small summerhouse attached to Clearwater Hall. Not far away sat Mary
and Fred.
"It's the truth, Martha," answered Jack; "and here is the telegram
that was sent. We at once went to Colonel Colby and got some
particulars."
"But he may be shot down and killed!" and Martha's face grew white as
she spoke.
"That's a chance every soldier takes when he goes to the front,
Martha. But let us hope that dad will escape--and let us hope that
Uncle Sam will escape, too."
Jack and Fred had come over early in the morning and had asked
permission of Miss Garwood to see the girls on an important errand.
They had left the school building under the curious eyes of Ruth and a
number of their other chums.
"Well, in one way, I'm glad of this," declared Mary, her pride showing
in her face. "It's exactly what I thought dad would do the minute we
got into the war. I knew he wouldn't want to be thought a slacker."
"But, Mary! suppose they got killed--or even wounded?" murmured
Martha.
"Martha Rover! do you want your father to hang back when he thinks
it's his duty to go to the front?" demanded Mary, her eyes snapping
questioningly.
"No, no!" answered her cousin quickly. "I know it's the right thing to
do. Just the same, it worries me a great deal; and I know it will
worry mamma, too."
"You mustn't say anything about being a slacker," admonished Jack. "If
it should get to the ears of Uncle Tom, it might make him feel very
bad."
"Oh, I don't put Uncle Tom down as a slacker," returned Mary quickly.
"I think he is making a great sacrifice, by staying behind to keep the
business together, and to serve on that Loan Committee and the Red
Cross Committee."
The young folks talked it over for some time, and decided to wait
until they got further word from home. Then the two girls went back
into the school to tell Miss Garwood and their chums the news, while
the boys hurried to Colby Hall, arriving there during the morning
recess.
"Say, but we've had some fun since you went away!" cried Andy gaily,
when they appeared. "Pud Hicks, the janitor's assistant, got the
surprise of his life."
"How is that?" questioned Fred.
"Why, Pud was using a vacuum cleaner in the upper hall when he saw
something in a dark corner that he couldn't quite make out. The thing
got stuck in the cleaner, and he put down his hand to see what it was.
The next minute he let out a yell like a wild Indian and came flying
down the corridor, scared stiff."
"What was it--the snapping turtle?" asked Jack.
"You've struck it. The turtle must have crawled into the corner, and
when he felt Pud's hand on him he took a good solid hold on Pud's
little finger.
"I had just gone upstairs to get a book when I saw Pud tearing around.
Half a dozen fellows were there, and the way Pud cut up was like a
circus. Shout Plunger came tearing upstairs to find out what it was
all about, and Pud gave the snapping turtle a sling, and it hit Shout
right in the face and then fell down inside his coat. Shout put his
hand inside to find out what it was, he being too deaf to hear the
talk about a snapping turtle, and then the turtle got busy and got
Shout by the hand. Then there was more fun!"
"What did they do with the turtle at last?" questioned Jack.
"Oh, Shout wouldn't take any chances," answered Andy. "He put the
turtle down on the floor and smashed it with his heel; and then, of
course, the fun was all over."
"Did they find out how the turtle came to be there?" questioned Fred.
"No, they didn't. Codfish came along, and he started to say something,
but I put up my fist and motioned to him, and then he shut up like a
clam."
"He'll give you away sooner or later, Andy," remarked Jack.
"If he does, he'll pay for it," retorted the fun-loving Rover.
Several days went by, and during that time the boys learned not a
little concerning the catastrophe at the Hasley Shell-Loading plant,
the local papers giving a full account of the affair. Fortunately the
report that several had been killed was untrue, but about sixteen men
had been injured, and several of them quite seriously.
There were many speculations concerning what had started the
explosions. It was proved that the first had occurred in one of the
cars which was standing loaded on the railroad track, while the second
explosion had come less than a minute later from what was known as
Storehouse No. 3. Then had followed an explosion at Storehouse No. 2,
and after that the explosions had come so rapidly and there had been
so much excitement that no one could tell exactly what had happened
next. But fortunately the explosions had been confined to the
storehouses and the loaded cars on the track. The main building of the
shell-loading plant had suffered considerably, but a portion was still
standing, and some underground vaults, filled with high explosives,
had not been reached. Had these explosives gone up, it is more than
likely Haven Point, as well as Clearwater Hall and possibly Colby
Hall, would have been shaken to their foundations and with great loss
of life.
A rigid investigation had been started by three different parties--the
owners of the plant, the local authorities, and the Secret Service of
the national government. The Secret Service men, of course, made no
public report, but the others in authority came to the conclusion that
the explosions had been started either by some spies working for the
shell-loading plant or by two suspicious-looking men who had been seen
several times around the place--the same fellows described by Jed
Kessler.
"Maybe those two fellows on the outside had confederates on the
inside," remarked Jack, in talking the affair over with his cousins.
"More than likely that's the truth of it," said Randy. "Those fellows
often work in gangs."
During the days following the victory over Hixley High, a number of
the cadets had gone down to Haven Point at various times, and several
brought back the report that they had met Slugger Brown and Nappy
Martell driving through the town in their runabout. Slugger and Nappy
had put on a lordly air, bowing very condescendingly to those they
knew, but refusing to stop for any conversation.
"Those fellows make me weary in the bones," was the way Dan Soppinger
expressed himself. "What ever brought 'em to Haven Point? If I had
been fired out of the school the way they were, I wouldn't want to
show my face around here again."
"Yes, Dan; but you aren't the sort they are," declared Jack. "I don't
believe either Slugger Brown or Nappy Martell has a particle of real
pride. They think just because they have a little more spending money
than most fellows, they can lord it over anybody."
It worried all of the Rovers to think that Brown and Martell were
hanging around Haven Point, and Jack telephoned to Clearwater Hall
several times, calling up Ruth and also his sister Martha, asking if
they had been annoyed in any way by the pair.
"We saw them again down near our boathouse," said Ruth over the
telephone. "They acted as if they wanted to talk to us, but we did not
give them any chance to do it."
"If they dare to say a word to any of you, just let us know and we'll
take care of them," declared the oldest Rover boy.
On the third day came a long letter to Jack and an equally lengthy
communication for Fred. The letters were from their fathers, and in
them Dick and Sam Rover gave the particulars of how they had
volunteered for service in France and how Dick had been commissioned a
captain and Sam a lieutenant. They mentioned the fact that they were
soon to leave New York City, along with a number of other volunteers,
to go to Camp Huxwell, a beautiful site selected by the government and
located on the Atlantic coast.
"Why, say, that isn't very far from here!" exclaimed Jack. "I've often
heard them talk about that place."
Jack's father also mentioned the fact that Colonel Colby had obtained
a commission as a captain and that a great many others of his old
school chums from Putnam Hall, and likewise two of his comrades from
Brill College, were going. He added that if Jack wanted to come home
to see him off, he could do so.
"And that's just what my dad says, too," said Fred, after both boys
had finished reading the letters. "Of course we'll go!"
"Ten horses couldn't hold me back," answered Jack.
"Well, if you fellows go, we're going, too," declared Randy, when the
matter was talked over.
"Bet your life!" added Andy slangily. "I want to know what dad has got
to say about all this."
Jack and Fred communicated at once with their sisters, and learned
that they, too, had received letters from home and were going to
depart for New York City at the earliest possible moment. It was then
arranged that the young folks should all leave together on the
following morning.
"Remember me to your fathers," said Colonel Colby, after they had
asked for and received permission to go. "Tell them they will hear
from me very shortly."
The two girls met the four boys at Haven Point, and Ruth, May, Gif,
and Spouter came to see them off.
"I've got a surprise for you," said Spouter, who had come to the
railroad station at Haven Point earlier than the others, in order to
obtain parlor-car seats for the party.
"What is that?" questioned Fred.
"When I came in for the seats, who do you think was just ahead of me
at the ticket window?"
"You don't mean Slugger and Nappy?" questioned Randy quickly.
"You've struck it!"
"What were they doing there?" asked Jack with interest.
"They were getting tickets for New York."
"Oh, dear! do you mean to say we've got to put up with those fellows
on this trip?" sighed Martha.
"You won't have to notice them, Martha," declared her brother.
"Don't worry but what we'll make them keep their distance," added
Fred.
The whole crowd looked around the depot, and presently made out
Slugger and Nappy at the far end of the platform. They were smoking
cigarettes and talking in low, earnest tones.
"I hope they didn't get seats in the parlor car," said Mary.
"I don't think they did," answered Spouter. "They're such smokers, I
guess they'd just as lief hang out in the smoking car."
In a few minutes the train came along, and, bidding their friends
good-bye, the Rovers got aboard and had a porter show them to their
seats. From the window Jack waved Ruth a good-bye, and then the long
train pulled out of Haven Point and began its trip to the metropolis.
It was rather a long journey, and it was necessary that they obtain a
meal on the train.
"Let me go into the dining car and have a look around first," remarked
Fred, when it came time to eat.
"What's the matter--afraid we won't be able to get seats?" inquired
Randy.
"I want to see if Slugger and Nappy are around. I don't want to eat
when they do."
"Right you are!" answered Jack.
He and Fred hurried through the train and into the diner. Neither
Brown nor Martell were present, for which they were thankful. They
found a table for four on one side of the car, with a table for two
directly opposite, and at once engaged both. Then, while Jack held the
tables, Fred hurried back and brought the girls and the twins.
"I never eat in a dining car but what I think of that fun we had with
Asa Lemm when we first came to the Hall," remarked Andy, as they sat
down. "My, what a pickle we did get that professor in!" he chuckled,
referring to a series of incidents, the particulars of which were
related in "The Rover Boys at Colby Hall."
"I wonder if we'll ever meet old Asa Lemm again?" remarked Fred.
"Sure!" returned Randy. "He's like a bad penny--bound to turn up some
time."
The young folks ordered soup for a first course, and this was quickly
served. Mary and Martha sat at the larger table with Andy and Randy
opposite, while Fred and Jack occupied the smaller table on the other
side of the car.
The soup was finished and the young folks were waiting to be served
with the more substantial portion of the meal, when suddenly Fred, who
was looking toward the far end of the dining car, pressed his foot
down on that of his cousin.
"What is it?" questioned Jack quickly.
"Here come Slugger Brown and Nappy Martell," was the low reply.