AN INTERESTING LETTER
But to catch Josiah Crabtree was not easy. The former teacher of
Putnam Hall was thoroughly alarmed, and once having taken to the
woods, he plunged in deeper and deeper, until to find him would
have been almost an impossibility. Indeed, he completely lost
himself, and when the boys had left the vicinity he found himself
unable to locate the road again, and so had to remain in the cold
and damp woods all night, much to his discomfort. He could not
keep warm, and sat chattering on a rock until daylight.
Finding it of no use to continue the search, Dick and Tom retraced
their steps to the Stanhope homestead. They found Dora on guard,
with every window and door either locked or nailed up. The girl
had persuaded her feeble mother to lie down again, but Mrs.
Stanhope was still too excited to rest comfortably.
"Did you catch him?" Dora asked anxiously, after she had admitted
them.
"No, he got away in the darkness," answered Dick.
"It is too bad. What do you suppose he was up to?"
"That is what we would like to find out, Dora. Certainly he was up
to no good."
"Perhaps he wished to rob us."
"He must know that you do not keep much money in the house."
"Day before yesterday mother had me draw four hundred dollars out
of the bank, to pay for the new barn we have had built. The
carpenter, however, went to Ithaca on business, so as yet we have
not been able to pay him the money."
"It was a mistake to keep so much cash in the house. You should
have paid by check--it's the same thing," put in Tom.
"I know it, but Mr. Gradley is peculiar. He once had some trouble
over a check, and he stipulated that he should be paid in cash."
"Do you suppose Josiah Crabtree saw you draw the money from the
bank?" remarked Dick thoughtfully.
"I don't know what to think."
"He would be just rascal enough to try to get it, if he knew of it.
I guess we had better remain here until morning, and after that you
had better have a man around the house."
"Yes, mother says she will hire a man. But men are difficult to
get--that is, one who is reliable. We had to discharge Borgy on
account of drunkenness."
"Perhaps father will let Alexander Pop come up here for a while,"
cried Dick, struck with the idea. "I don't believe he needs the
man at home, and Aleck is thoroughly reliable, even if he is
colored."
"Yes, I know Pop well. I would like to have him first-rate. But
it is asking a good deal at your hands, Dick."
"As if I wouldn't do a good deal more than that, Dora," he cried
quickly, and caught her hand.
"I know you would--you have already. You are the best friend I
have, Dick--you and your brothers."
"And I always will be, Dora, always!" he whispered, and pressed her
hand so tightly that she blushed like a peony.
Tom had passed into the kitchen and was looking around to see what
damage his struggle with Crabtree had done. Nothing was injured.
Under the kitchen table lay a letter and a small vial. He picked
up both.
"Chloroform!" he cried, as he smelt of the contents of the vial,
just as the others came in.
"Where did you get that?" asked Dora.
"Found it under the table, along with this letter. Crabtree must
have dropped both."
"Let me see the letter!" cried Dick.
Tom passed it over, and all three read the communication with
interest. It had been sent to Josiah Crabtree while the latter had
been stopping in New York, and was post-marked Albany.
"It's from Dan Baxter," said Dick.
The letter ran as follows:
"Dear Mr. Crabtree:
"I drop you a few lines as promised. I have seen my father and his
plans are about completed. The Rovers think they have the upper
hand, but when he gets out of jail he will be able to show them a
thing or two and surprise them. If you go to Cedarville I will
meet you there on the 5th of next month--at the old meeting place.
We won't have Mumps, the turncoat, to bother us, and maybe we can
lay plans for a fat deal all around. Anyway, we ought to square
accounts with those Rover boys. They treated both of us
outrageously and they ought to suffer for it.
"Yours as faithfully as ever,
"D.B."
"Won't Crabtree be mad when he finds out that he lost this?"
grinned Tom.
"He may not know that he dropped it here."
"Well, it clears up one point. Baxter and he are both around, and
intent on mischief."
"True enough."
"What shall you do next?" put in Dora anxiously.
"I hardly know. 'Forwarned is forearmed,' they say, but Baxter and
Crabtree are such underhanded rascals one never knows what to
expect of them next."
"Of course you will tell the Cedarville police--or I shall."
"I'll do that. But you know what they did before. Never helped us
a bit, but let both slip through their fingers."
"Perhaps they will be on their mettle now."
The situation was talked over for half an hour, and then it was
decided that Tom should return to Putnam Hall to explain to Captain
Putnam and to Sam, while Dick should remain with the Stanhopes.
This agreed upon, Tom took his departure immediately, as it was now
midnight, and he did not wish to be locked out for the night.
"And now you had better return to bed, Dora," said Dick, after his
brother had departed. "I will remain downstairs, on the sofa, and
I don't believe anybody will disturb me."
"All right, if you wish it that way," replied the girl. "But you
can have one of the bedrooms if you wish."
"No, I'll stay here, and keep my clothes on."
Dora went upstairs, but soon came back, carrying a pillow and a
quilt.
"There, that will provide a little comfort," she said, but then, as
Dick caught her hand as if to kiss it, she gave a merry little
laugh and ran upstairs again.
It was a long while before Dick could go to sleep. He had read the
letter found in the kitchen with care, and he wondered what it all
meant.
"What plans can Arnold Baxter be completing?" he asked himself.
"And how can he surprise father? Can that refer to the missing
mine in Colorado? He talks as if he was going to get out of jail
pretty soon, but that can't be, for the judge will certainly give
him three or four years at the least. Perhaps I had better write
to father about this."
No other person came that night to disturb the inmates of the
cottage, and when at last Dick did fall into slumber he did not
awaken until the sun was shining in the window and a neighboring
Irish woman, who did Mrs. Stanhope's washing and ironing, was
knocking on the kitchen door for entrance.
"Good-morning, Mrs. O'Toole," he said, as he leaped up and let her
in.
"Good-marnin', young sir," stammered the washerwoman. "Sure an' I
didn't ixpict to see you here."
"I suppose not. But come in, and I will call Miss Dora."
"No need to call me, if you please," came in a silvery voice from
the hall, and Dora appeared, as bright and fresh as ever. "I would
have been down before, only I had to wait on mamma."
"And how is she?"
"She is no worse, but neither is she better. I shall send for our
doctor to-day."
Breakfast was soon on the table-fresh coffee, fresh eggs, and
dainty buckwheat cakes baked by Dora's own hands. It is needless
to say that Dick enjoyed the repast.
"You'll make a famous housekeeper for somebody some day, Dora," he
said, looking at her pointedly.
"You go and eat your cakes before they get cold," she answered.
"I've already eaten my fill, I can't go another one. I've enjoyed
them ever so much. Now I guess I had better be off for
Cedarville."
"If you wish, you can hitch up Dolly to the carriage and drive
over. It will be nicer than walking."
"Supposing I go over on horseback? Is she used to a saddle?"
"Oh, yes, and you will find a gentleman's saddle in the harness
closet back of the stalls."
"Then I'll go that way. Good-by. I'll be back before noon, unless
something unusual turns up. And when I am down in Cedarville I'll
send word to father about Aleck."
Leaving the house Dick went to the barn, which was usually locked.
Dora had given him the key, but to his surprise he found the
padlock pried off and the door partly open.
"Can this be more of Crabtree's work?" he asked himself. "Perhaps
he has stolen the mare! What fools we were not to look in here
last night."
But Dick's fears were groundless. The mare was still there. But
she was all saddled, ready for him to ride.
"Crabtree's work, beyond a doubt," he thought.
Before he went to the house he came here, and it was his intention
to steal the mare and get away on her.